- This topic is empty.
Signs of a short / mild winter (Maybe)
-
While out on a disappointing (photographywise) morning, I noticed the following scenes & just wondered, does nature have a better idea of the weather due to come (long range) than the weatherman. Afterall, It’s almost mid-November.
Plenty of berries still on the trees
Weevils still mating
and bug eggs still hatching
We can but hope they know better. :lol: :lol:love the set:)
i remember hearing that theirs a postman in donegal who uses this method to predict the weather, he reckons the longer the the berries stay on the bush the harder the winter will be, the idea is that mother nature provides extra food and time for the animals to gather the food so it can survive the long winter.
Lovely shots,the last one is especially good, how small is the subject?
Sinead, as a scientist I’m afraid I have to correct you on your comment – those trees which provide fruit are not interested in making the winter more bearable for the animals which feed upon them in the sense that you say. The tree does rely upon birds to eat the berries and thus spread the seed, but it cannot decide to fruit later on a year-by-year basis for the purpose of protecting the birds,or to keep its fruit for longer. It is merely programmed (through evolution) to fruit based on the length of sunshine in the day, and by the temperature to a lesser degree. The berries still being on the trees is probably down to nothing more than the mild weather we have been having. It is a nice thought, but unfortunately not the case!
P.S. sorry to hijack the post like this but my inner nerd couldn’t leave it alone :-)
Mark.
Thanks Sinead & Mark.
Sinead: I’ve heard of the postman in Donegal & some of his predictions have been pretty good last year. I’d like to think that this would be the case with the berries, but it may be that the birds are getting lazy or being fed elsewhere. :lol:
Mark: Each egg is approximately 1.5mm in height. This shot was approx x4 or x5 lifesize & the little bugs were still almost invisible.Hi Miki,
Interesting thread and interesting photographs.
I was hoping that your reading of the signs held some hope of a mild and
short winter and mean less of the problems caused by the extreme, for us,
weather of the last couple of winters. :)
And then…Mark the scientist bursts me bubble… :?
Wishful thinking but we can still hope.As I said the images are interesting but the last one looks really goog.
Never seen anything like this before.
David Attenborough watch out. :DCheers,
John.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
