Very Berry - Know your Berries

Anonymous
Anonymous

Hi there

After my walk on Sunday last week I could see that a few different berries, and Rosehips where around.  I can see why the Thrushes love them so much.  Still it is interesting knowing what birds like so we can add our bit to encourage birds into our garden. One thing I do know is that we have a Hawthorn and I am sure that the birds each a lot of the berries on the tree on a regular basis.

Th white berry shown in picture 3 was growing in my back garden of my last house.  I was really surprised to find a Male Blackcap eating the white berries for a good while.  The weather was not cold as such either.

Love to hear what people think the berries are, and please add some of your own anytime.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

 

 

 

  • Nicki C said:

    Th white berry shown in picture 3 was growing in my back garden of my last house.  I was really surprised to find a Male Blackcap eating the white berries for a good while.  The weather was not cold as such either.

     

    Hi Blackbird,

    The white berry is a shrub that grows wild as well as in gardens. It is difficult to contain in a garden as it grows from suckers so fast you can almost see it growing, and takes over everything else. It needs ferocious pruning. I'm not sure if it might be called a Snowberry Bush. I have one in my front garden but I wish I didn't!!!!

  • Hi there, Pics 1 & 4 look like a type of Hawthorn (Crataegus)

    Pic 2 is Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)

    Pic 3 is indeed Snow Berry (symphoricarpos albus), and yes it is a Garden Thug, plant at your peril. Don't think the birds really like the Berries.

    Pic 5 looks like Honeysuckle (Lonicera)  Berries/Fruits,  And are a favourite of blackbirds. I'm surprised they are still there in-fact.

     

    I know the birds where I have worked have stripped all the Hollies, Rowans, Jasmines and pyracantha so far.

  •  I just had to add, we had a snow berry that grew through one of our hedges and found that the birds very rarely touched it. It really was an awful plant to get rid of.

     I found a blackbird in our porch this morning eating the berries on our holly wreath. 

     

  • Hello.

    We have a Rowan Tree in our front garden, which I'm sure was planted before I was born.  Every year the birds strip it of berries quicker than you can say: "Oh look, there's some berries on that tree."  I also hang a seed feeder, nut feeder, and sometimes a fat cake from that tree.  The birds seem quite pleased with this arrangement.  There used to be an Ash tree nearby which I'm certain I've heared was planted by birds.  Sadly we had to get rid of this because it was causing structural damage to the building.


    Paul.

  • Agree with the hawthorn and snowberry but not sure about the blackthorn. The plant in the photo looks more like a climber / vine type rather than a thorny shrub / tree of the blackthorn. Also the berries are in clusters and very shiny where as sloes are covered in a 'bloom' and more 'evenly' spread out along the branches. It doesn't help much as I can't give a positive ID for it either but my guess would be maybe Black Bryony?

  • When I read about the blackbird eating berries off the Christmas Wreath I thought I must tell you about our Chritmas wreath and the wrens!Sorry if it takes the thread off topic!

    We have a slate rooved open porch much loved by wrens but each Christmas I put up a large homemade Christmas Wreath consiting of many different types of conifers and ivy.

    The wrens seem to prefer this wreath as a roosting place and on several occasions when we've opened the door to visitors at night a wren has flown off it into our sitting room.Seeing a Christmas tree in the corner it normally makes a beeline for it and it takes us quite sometime to persuade the wren back outside ! Some years we've had to stop using this door altogether!

  • That's a wonderful story Petrirosso!! How delightful! I just have to ask.... any photos?

  • Identifying berries without seeing the leaves can be a tricky thing to do! I think the black clusters of berries in the second picture could be dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) and i think possibly the fifth picture could be black bryony (Tamus communis). Strangely enough the berries of black bryony are actually red! Not one hundred percent sure on these but thought i'd add my thoughts to the mixer!!!

  • Just had another closer look at pic 2, and you know it is Cornus Sanguinea, silly me. D'oh.!  Just googled a pic to make sure.!

     

    Here are more berry pics for your amusement.

     Pyracantha.

    Iris foetidissima

     Cotoneaster Spp.

    Cotoneaster yellow form.

     

    Skimia Japonica (red)

    Skimia white form (white)

    Snow Berry

  • Anonymous
    0 Anonymous 19/12/2009 04:09 in reply to juno

    Hi Sparrow: Snow Berry thank you for the ID - could not remember it at all LOL.  I did not relaise it was so rampant in the garden area.

    Juno: Thank you for your ID's

    Brenda:  I wonder why I saw the Male Blackcap eating the Snow Berry and I hope that it did not posion itself

    LOL with your story about the Holly Wreath.  Shows that an artifical one might be better {wink}

    Heron: Love your idea with the Tree with Berries and the bird feeders in ine place - excellant idea

    Very sad about the Ash Tree as they are more unusual Trees.amd they can cause structural problems too.

    MarJus: Thank you for your ID's .  The pictures where taken in a wild area not to say that some of the bushes might be closer to home.

    Petrirosso: Love your Wren story - so cute.

    Ian: Never seen Black berries like those ones - other than Elderflower os it is interesting to know what they are.  I need to take pictures when some more greenery is around for ID purposes

    Juno: Great pictures, and thank you for adding to the thread.  Some of the berries I have seen from Gardens areas - winder if the birds eat all berries or there are ones they cannot eat.

    Thanks everyone {thumbs up}

    Regards

    Kathy and Dave