For the first time in a while, I took a walk around the wetland trail yesterday and I was absolutely amazed by the amount of berries that are hanging on the trees. It was noticeable as soon as I stepped out of the visitor centre, with a beautiful spindle tree showing off its vibrant pink berries just behind the building. Incidentally, the spindle is my favourite berry perhaps because it dares to be different from the more traditional black and red berries that adorn other native shrubs; the spindle fruit eventually opens up to reveal a wonderful orange centre.
Spindle (Emily Summers)
As I continued on down the trail, the path was lined with thick brambles heavy with glistening blackberries at varying stages of ripeness. We all know and love the blackberry and most of us will recollect fond childhood memories of getting sticky fingers stained with purple as we picked a bumper crop destined to be made into apple and blackberry crumble. However, as much as we enjoy the fruit of the bramble, it’s important to remember that our wildlife enjoys it too and some species even rely on this food source to help them survive the colder months.
While most butterflies are found feeding on flowers, the sweet, sticky juices of blackberries are irresistible to the comma butterfly, easily recognised by its vibrant orange wings with jagged edges. Many small mammals, including dormice, wood mice and bank voles will take advantage of the glistening fruit too, and on warmer days they may be joined by common lizards who will be forgoing their usual meal of spiders and ants.
Even when the berries are all gone and only the spiny foliage remains, many birds will use the dense cover as protection from the winter weather and in the spring, the brambles provide a great place for nest-building and raising young.
Blackberries (Emily Summers)
Comma butterfly resting on brambles (Emily Summers)
Walking down the zig-zag path, the hawthorn trees were a welcome treat for the eyes. The juicy red 'haws' are rich in antioxidants so provide winter migrants such as fieldfare and redwing with a great source of food. Hawthorn grows best in full sun - something there certainly hasn't been a shortage of this year! - which may explain the huge amount of fruit on display around the reserve.
Hawthorn (Emily Summers)
Blackbird in hawthorn (RSPB Pulborough Brooks)
While spindle may be my favourite berry, sloes definitely come a close second. They are the fruit of the blackthorn tree and are rather satisfying in appearance, being perfectly round in shape with mottled blue skin.
Sloes on blackthorn (Emily Summers)
Although it can be nice to sample the various fruits that nature has to offer, it's really important to remember to leave plenty for our wildlife. While it is a tasty treat for us, it can mean the difference between life or death for many creatures. Sampling the odd (edible) berry is fine though and let's be honest - it isn't really autumn until you've tasted a blackberry!