Thank you, Mary, that looks like the plant, alright. So it's non native, and
we need to keep an eye on it, for it is spreading, as the berries aren't
consumed by any birds, etc.

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"Phil Rhodes" wrote in message
...
I've been living next to this bush for 7 years and I don't know what it
is. Yes, that's a douglas squirrel on the railing, but the bush behind
him with the red berries is a mystery. It survives the summer droughts,
and the winter floods (when we get the pinapple express rain), and it's
spreading, via the red berries. Nothing eats the berries, not even the
deer mice, but in the summer it's covered with bees, wasps and yellow
jackets or hornets (I can't tell them apart going for the nectar. I've
even seen rufous hummingbirds try for the nectar from the little flowers,
yet I can't smell a thing (and I don't smoke).
This is a recent photo, the leaves fall off in the winter, most of them.

Looks - and sounds - like a cotoneaster. It has tiny white flowers which
have nectaries very close to the surface and therefore accessible to
insects which don't have tongues. Bees don't usually bother with it
because they can access plenty of other flowers - but I don't know what
else is available in your area.

There are many types of cotoneaster, I don't know about anything but the
common variety and the prostrate one.

Mary