They're Berry Tasty

Winter can mean a struggle for wildlife to find food. Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s KATIE PIERCY tells us about  some of the winter berries which keep our birds and mammals fed

- Katie Piercy

AFTER the abundance of autumn, winter can seem rather like an empty cupboard. But despite the extra pressures of long nights and cold weather, our wildlife does have a few options to rely on during the leaner months – our winter berries.

When softer fruits like blackberries, raspberries and elderberries have all been gobbled up, there are a number of tougher berries up for grabs. They cling to our trees, bushes and climbers, barely moved by the wind, sleet and rain. Many are highly poisonous to humans, or just too sour to enjoy, yet they are often high in vitamins and calories, keeping our hardy winter wildlife powering on until spring.

The rowan is one of our most impressive trees during winter, shedding its leaves to reveal large clusters of orangey-red berries. With branches weighed down with fruit, these trees bring in droves of hungry birds including thrushes, blackbirds and most excitingly the exotic looking waxwings, which pay Britain a few scattered visits each winter.

Hawthorn too spends the winter covered with red berries, though less densely packed than the rowan. Like rowan, Hawthorn berries they are high in vitamin C and can be eaten by humans, though both are mostly cooked for jams and jellies rather than being eaten raw, when they often taste sour. The berries themselves are known as ‘haws’, and are likely to have given their name to the hawfinch, who will happily eat both the flesh and the seed. With its parrot-like beak, the hawfinch can merrily crack open some of the toughest pips and stones, and is particularly fond of cherries and plums.

Once the berries have fallen to the ground they can become food for other animals such as the wood and yellow-necked mice. Both species remain active during winter as they don’t hibernate, however they do spend more time underground, living off their stores.