On 14/10/2020 19:43, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
On 14/10/2020 14:00, Ian Jackson wrote:
In message , Graeme
writes
In message , Andy Burns
writes
My holly bush is having a bumper year for berries, but the birds
don't seem to have noticed, have they all gone colour-blind?

Birds here are having a field day, attacking the windfall apples,
bright orange and red pyracantha berries and anything else they can
find.

My large holly bush was once stripped bare of berries in a few minutes
when a flock of birds landed on it. [They were 'strangers' in these
parts, and I think they were just passing through. They were the size
of doves, but had red flashes on their wings. I'm not sure what they
were.]

I'd suspect redwing (Turdus iliacus), but they're thrush size, not dove
size.

they can be quite big. Normal migrants in E anglia are redwings and
fieldfares.



Some resident wood pigeons will suddenly decide to raid my red-berried
pyracantha - but not the one with orange berries.

On the other hand, the red berries on the cotoneaster (which keeps
springing up like weeds all over the place) seem to be left alone,
even in the coldest winters). I guess the birds do eat it (and hence
spread it) - but I never see them doing so. They certainly leave
fallen berries alone.



--
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on
its shoes.