Hi Observers,
We're thinking that exposure to predation has a lot to do with how fast the berries are consumed. Take a look at the patches that still have SNOWBERRIES and those that don't. Give you any other ideas? Perhaps how 'buggy' they might be? Our snowberries, in a hedgerow adjacent to conifers and intertwined with trailing blackberry, making a dense thicket, and didn't make it into the fall. Yet down the street, at the edge of the road and a hayfield, the berries are still there in beautiful bouquets atop the bushes.
MADRONNAs seemed to have been consumed in the last few weeks. But Madronnas didn't really finished ripening until just recently.
All our RED-FLOWERING CURRANT berries departed the bush early. We don't know if this represented the usual preference of birds for these berries or just the lack of abundance after the dry summer. Any ideas about which species of bird would go for the Red-flowering Currant?
We really miss the 40 acres of BLACKCAPS that once abutted this place. We had several pairs of LAZULI BUNTINGS nesting here in those days. Haven't seen them in years. Has anyone else noted that type of association?
---John & L. S. Allinger
jonymike at Pacifier Daught Kom
Clark County, Washington