What's Wrong with the Holly?
There’s something wrong with the holly.
I have to be honest, I was pretty dismissive of the humble holly, until recently. It’s one of those trees that seems to sprout everywhere. It scratches your skin and cags your clothes. But while walking through Delamere Forest, a friend told me how holly grows without its spikes. It is only once it has suffered damage, often from deer munching their leaves, that they grow their tiny daggers as a means to protect itself. To me, that makes holly pretty cool. And so, I’m paying closer attention.
I’m worried…
But I can’t help feeling a little worried for the holly tree as we step out of winter and into spring. Because there is one significant difference I’ve noticed this year. Berries.
If you’ve ever gone hunting for holly at Christmas, you will know it’s almost impossible to find a sprig complete with berries. Ripening during the autumn, they are a vital food source for many birds such as the robin, blackbird, and thrushes, particularly as other food sources become depleted. They may taste awful, and not be fit for human consumption, but they are rich in the carbohydrates, fats, antioxidants, vitamins, and fatty acids birds need to maintain their energy levels.
By the time we reach the festive season, these birds have had months to strip the tree of the berries, leaving only the prickly leaves behind. And this is as it should be. Mother Nature does not grow holly berries to adorn our fireplaces and staircases. They are meant to feed the chirps of our winter.
So, why, in March, are there still berries sitting untouched?
I spotted these few the other day on Bickerton Hill.
If it was a one off, I probably wouldn’t have noticed them. But they represent a pattern. Everywhere my partner and I have gone in recent weeks, there have been untouched berries.
And I can’t help wondering whether this is something to do with climate change.
Is there something wrong with the berries?
Has too much rain during the winter, or too hot sun in the summer, changed them in some way and made them less appealing?
Has climate change affected the local natural environment so much, that there has been plentiful of alternative food for the birds?
Have environmental changes meant…*gulp*… that there are fewer birds?
Have the weather changes meant berries have been bursting from the holly bushes, providing the birds with more than they need?
The evidence…
Curiosity spurs me to investigate further. It leads me to a blog post on the myth that an abundance of berries predicts a harsher winter. It explains how spring influences the number of berries that grow. Yet, somehow, the myth seems to hold some truth. Admittedly, I spent autumn recovering from surgery, but I’ve not seen any reports of abundance berries, and the winter certainly wasn’t harsh.
And so, I continue researching. This leads me to another blog post discussing the particularly hot summer in 2022 and how:
“Hawthorn, Rowan, Holly and Elder have all been recorded as fruiting earlier”.
It’s thought that this is the species attempting to improve survival in drought conditions. But again, this wouldn’t explain why berries remain on their branches in spring. In fact, you would expect the opposite.
Another website mentions a need for frost and wet weather to soften the berries so they are edible for birds, but I couldn’t find any further evidence for this. It would, however, offer a plausible explanation, and there has been some talk on the lack of frost this year. This leads me to a BBC News article discussing how a lack of ‘chill hours’ can reduce the number of fruit buds on apple trees. In other words, less frost means fewer, or no, apples. If the same might be true for holly (and I have no idea if it is) then, it’s another dead end in my hunt for an explanation on the berries.
It might be time, to face the unthinkable question. Deep breath, everyone.
“Have environmental changes meant…*gulp*… that there are fewer birds?”
But while, a government study into wild bird populations in England, 1970 to 2022, shows that there has been a decline in overall bird numbers, some species, including the Robin, have seen over a 50% increase. There is nothing in the statistics that would suggest that there are less birds eating holly berries. Besides, this is not something that has happened gradually. It is a difference I have noticed just this year.
There is another possibility; the wet and mild winter has led to an abundance of other foods, meaning the birds don’t need the bitter berries. But the research suggests that the opposite might be true. Climate changes in the UK are reducing food sources such as moths and earthworms.
However, I stumble across this BBC article. It discusses how some birds are arriving here earlier in the spring.
Is there a subtle shift in our seasons?
Is our winter becoming shorter, and therefore, berries are less needed?
More questions.
I’m no further forward in finding an answer. But every time I walk past a holly tree still bearing some of its fruits, I worry.
I worry about our birds.
I worry about our environment.
I worry we have tipped over the precipice and there’s no turning back.
What’s your theory? Do we need to worry about the holly? Did you notice an abundance this winter and are you still spotting berries this spring?