My Flora and Fauna Friday post this week is Holly (Ilex aquifolium) berries.
Technically they’re a fruit rather than a berry. They are a popular winter food source for a variety of birds as well as being a traditional Christmas decoration.
These berries were photographed on a mature female tree in a garden in Hatherton near Nantwich in southern Cheshire, England.
My Saturday Bird this week is the Redwing (Turdus iliacus), a member of the thrush family. It’s not related to the Red-winged Blackbird native to North America.
The Redwing is native to Europe and the Palearctic and is a winter visitor to the U.K. although a few birds stay to breed in the summer. This individual is eating a Holly berry in a garden in Hatherton, Cheshire, England.
This week the subject of Flora and Fauna Friday is Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) berries although technically they’re a fruit rather than a berry. The fruit is also know as a haw.
The Common Hawthorn is native to Europe, northwest Africa and West Asia. These examples were photographed at Hurleston Reservoir near Nantwich in southern Cheshire, England.
Nine red berries on the South Bruce Peninsula in the late autumn. Two are mostly hidden by the group of five.
This is my day 9 contribution to Becky’s October Squares challenge on the theme of Kind.
Flora and Fauna Friday this week is Cotoneaster horizontalis growing in a garden in Nantwich, Cheshire, England.
The plant is native to western China but it is a popular garden plant in the U.K. where it has become naturalised and may be becoming invasive. The berries are a popular food source for various bird species in the winter.
This is my contribution to the Friendly Friday Photo Challenge: Fruits.
Some red berries in the autumn. I was surprised that a bird or mammal species hadn’t eaten them.
This is my contribution to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: 5+ Items.
As the challenge is 5+ I decided to go with a selection of six photos.
5+ young Eurasian Blue Tits.
5+ tree trunks.
5+ Common Merganser ducklings.
5+ Borage seeds.
5+ red berries.
5+ American White Pelicans.
