September 28th – I’m seeing lots of these berries in patches of shrubbery planted along cycleways and and other urban spaces like industrial estates at the moment. I have no idea what they are, but the density of the fruit head is fascinating me.
Anyone know what these are, please?
September 19th – Yet another abundance this year of bright orange-red cotoneasters, so beloved of blackbirds, who upon finding a bush, will fight off challengers, usually while another steals the sugary berries.
These bright fruits – another clear sign of autumn – line hedgerows, cycleways and towpaths, and seem a very popular bush to plant on industrial estate verges, which is good for birds and bees alike.
July 27th – A foul commute in steady rain and a headwind, with the greasy roads I’d experienced a couple of days ago. There was really nothing at all to commend cycling this morning.
And then I passed the ripening rowan berries, bright orange and glistening with raindrops, and the morning didn’t seem as grim anymore.
I love how nature does that.
July 7th – Summer’s wheel continues to turn, despite the poor weather, and I was shocked today to note that the rowan berries on the trees by the cycleway in Pelsal were beginning to ripen.
One of the earlier berries of the summer, they add a lovely splash of orange colour to the maturing greenery of high summer.
With days now getting shorter, it really feels like the year is advancing fast now.
October 27th – These berries are profuse all along the cycle paths of Telford, and I don’t really know what they are. Glossier and rounder than cotoneaster but similarly pea-sized, they come in colours from deep red to light pink and yellow. The berry-heads are very dense, yet the birds don’t seem to bother with them.
Anybody know what they are?
August 6th – Another fruit of the season, but this time doing well, are honeysuckle berries. Sticky, poisonous and sugary they would upset human digestion but not that of the local birds, who will strip the shrubs on the south side of the Black Cock Bridge clear of berries as soon as they’re ripe.
Their sticky coating leads to them acquiring a patina of dust and road film, and I often wonder what effect that has on the wildlife that dines upon it.
July 30th – Another plant mystery. Are these white currants of some kind? Large, glossy and surprisingly white, they’re growing in a hedge near Four Oaks.
Any ideas, please?
July 27th – I awoke to a better day. It was warm again and the sun was shining sporadically. After the dismal unpleasantness of the previous day, this was refreshing and welcome, particularly as I’d expected a wet morning commute.
The dearth of traffic (due to the Industrial Fortnight) also made for a pleasant ride.
Passing the rowans in Pleck, I noticed their berries were plump and now bright orange. This pleased me.
Sometimes, like the berries, sun and warmth is all I need.
December 19th – I don’t know why I think this, but I always consider cotoneasters a Christmas plant. The bright red-orange berries are a favourite with blackbirds who will strip a bush in days, all the time protecting it from the hungry beaks of other birds.
Something odd is going on though. Last year, there were huge bounties of such berries still on the bushes well into spring, seemingly barely touched. This year, these I pass on the way to work are already nearly stripped. This seems to be the same everywhere.
Why? Was preferential food available in abundance last year? Perhaps not so many blackbirds? Did something about that previous summer make the orange fruit less nutritious or maybe unpleasant?
Really puzzled by it.
October 17th – The morning commute was damp, and a little drizzly, but it brightened up as I neared work. On the way, I noted the assortment of hips, haws and berries, glistening with raindrops. For the hedgerow fruits, it’s been a bountiful year, and the birds certainly have plenty in the larder right now.
A fine autumn; best I can remember for many a year.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 