Hedgerows and woodland across the nation are awash with red berries which nature experts at the Woodland Trust are describing as one of the biggest ever crops – and could it mean we have a cold winter heading our way? Nature’s Calendar recorders have sent in reports with this year’s crop being given 4.2 on the fruit scale – deemed as ‘exceptional’. This takes in dozens of records where hawthorns are judged on the abundance of their berries, also known as haws. The Nature’s Calendar team has been reporting on this for the last 20 years, and with records still coming in, it’s the largest fruit score ever (equalled only in 2014). There are old wives tales that lots of berries in the hedgerows means we are in for a bad winter – nature’s way of laying down a food supply for the birds. However, the Nature’s Calendar team puts the exceptional crop down to a mild spring where temperatures hovered above average. This is when the white hawthorn flowers bloom which, if pollinated, go on to produce the red fruits in autumn. Dr Judith Garforth, the Woodland Trust’s Citizen Science Officer, said:
“This is really good autumn news for wildlife. “Haws are eaten by migrating birds such as redwings, fieldfares and thrushes as well as small mammals. “The fruit score is really important as it provides an indicator of winter food availability for wildlife, as well as the seed source available for natural regeneration of trees and shrubs, it’s often linked to climate variables in preceding seasons.”
