Signs of a bad Winter looming?

mr.wiggle

Just wondering if we are in for a bad winter?
I know its a bit of an over-used statement, but I've really
never, ever seen so many blackberries, sloe's, crab-apples,
hawthorn and elder berries around my neck o the woods.
The crab-apples trees and mountain ash are especially fruitful along my lane.
Is nature putting on an especially large harvest for its critters
for hard-times ahead?

Mr.W

OpenYourEyes

mr.wiggle wrote: »

Just wondering if we are in for a bad winter?
I know its a bit of an over-used statement, but I've really
never, ever seen so many blackberries, sloe's, crab-apples,
hawthorn and elder berries around my neck o the woods.
The crab-apples trees and mountain ash are especially fruitful along my lane.
Is nature putting on an especially large harvest for its critters
for hard-times ahead?

Mr.W

To put it simply: No :P

Or at least not necessarily! Hopefully if it is a bad winter, the bumper crop of fruits you mentioned will help avoid any significant declines though.

thebishop

I think its a sign we had a good Summer.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Every other year somebody starts a post like this.

The fruits of our hedgerows are the result of a mild Spring and good Summer.

I have seen many Winters that were very mild and the bushes were fully laden with fruit - so much so that much was rotted and dried on the plants by the next Spring.

I don't dismiss many old wives tales but this one is a definite exception.

Half-cocked

Can bushes and trees read the future? I think not;)

mr.wiggle

Fair enough, I'll stop listening to postman Michael Gallagher so!


God bless the inter-web...just found this ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/happy-as-a-pig-in-acorns-nature-fights-back-with-a-bumper-wildfruit-crop-the-reward-for-enduring-last-years-heavy-rain-8803422.html

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

mr.wiggle wrote: »

Fair enough, I'll stop listening to postman Michael Gallagher so!


God bless the inter-web...just found this ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/happy-as-a-pig-in-acorns-nature-fights-back-with-a-bumper-wildfruit-crop-the-reward-for-enduring-last-years-heavy-rain-8803422.html

What has any of that to do with the promise that a bumper crop is a sign of a forthcoming harsh winter?

mr.wiggle

Journee Zealous Ulcer wrote: »

What has any of that to do with the promise that a bumper crop is a sign of a forthcoming harsh winter?

Hi Journee Zealous Ulcer, if you actually read the article it answers the question I was asking, about the old wives tale of a good harvest preceding a bad winter
I guess I touched a nerve there, sorry

Shrub and tree watchers around the country are eagerly anticipating the greatest abundance of fruit, seed and berries since 2006 this autumn, with apple, haws (from Hawthorn), holly berry, rowan (Mountain ash), figs (sycamore) and blackberries all showing signs of unusually high yields.

“The rowan, or Mountain ash, is so heavily berried that the boughs look like they’re in danger of breaking,” said Matthew Oates, National Trust’s specialist on nature and wildlife.

“But it’s also a good autumn for most berry-bearing trees and shrubs. There will be plenty of holly berries this Christmas – and no, this doesn’t mean we have a bad winter ahead, as folklore would have you believe, but reflects the fact we had a good late spring.

Conmaicne Mara

Journee Zealous Ulcer wrote: »

mild Spring

:eek:

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

:eek:

Yes. There was considerably less frost and ice than the seasonal norm in 2013. It was also drier than the long term norm, with temperatures at the norm.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

mr.wiggle wrote: »

Hi Srameen, if you actually read the article it answers the question I was asking, about the old wives tale of a good harvest preceding a bad winter
I guess I touched a nerve there, sorry

Oh no nerve there to touch at all, honestly

All I meant was the article did not support the old wives tale and was predominately a treatise on bumper crops after a lean year - tantamount to the opposite.
One part of one sentence refered to the issue raised on this thread and I wasn't sure why you linked to it or, more importantly, which of it's angles was relevant. That's all, no big deal at all - it just felt (and I most certainly did read it) that the article went a long way around many houses to say what people here had already posted and was predominately about another aspect of nature's harvest altogether.

vicwatson

Possibly a very cold winter but it'll be nothing to do with postman pat or the abundance of berries that's an absolute fact.

Weather can be predicted almost accurately to 3 days. Beyond that its anyones guess.

Mickeroo

Journee Zealous Ulcer wrote: »

Yes. There was considerably less frost and ice than the seasonal norm in 2013. It was also drier than the long term norm, with temperatures at the norm.

March was the coldest it's been since records began in many parts of the country and over all the spring was the coldest in 62 years from what I read?

Conmaicne Mara

Journee Zealous Ulcer wrote: »

Yes. There was considerably less frost and ice than the seasonal norm in 2013. It was also drier than the long term norm, with temperatures at the norm.

2013 was one of the coldest Springs I've experienced in Ireland. Mild would not be a word I'd use to describe it. Very late growth on farms resulted in a fodder shortage.

Lumi

Journee Zealous Ulcer wrote: »

Yes. There was considerably less frost and ice than the seasonal norm in 2013. It was also drier than the long term norm, with temperatures at the norm.

Spring 2013 was drier than average in parts of the Midlands, West and Southeast however all three months of the season reported below average temperatures. March reported the coldest conditions, with differences of over -3.5°C in parts of the Midlands and East.
The Met Eireann seasonal report for Spring 2013 is available here if anyone is interested in reading it in full

Rosier

Thankful some still respect old wisdom and I am firmly aware of a hard winter to come even before the harvest of fruit began.

Seeing rowans bent nearly to the ground with berries.... delicious jelly they make, and jams etc are wonderful ...

Time will tell.. but I am stocking my pantry as I live up in the mountains.

OpenYourEyes

Rosier wrote: »

Thankful some still respect old wisdom and I am firmly aware of a hard winter to come even before the harvest of fruit began.

Whatever works for ya :rolleyes:

Rosier

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Whatever works for ya :rolleyes:

Thank you! Old bones speak loud!

OpenYourEyes

It reminds me when I was going through some White-fronted Goose resightings in the 1980's from County Clare recently - on one survey card it was noted that the flock was using a field that they hadn't used for years, and the the locals in the pub were saying it was a sign that it'd be a bad winter - I then checked the weather records and saw that that January was one of the coldest for a long time!


....of course the two were completely unrelated! Just a coincidence. I'm sure plenty of similar observations have been made the length and breadth of the country every year, and people forget the ones that don't come true and remember the ones that do.

Rosier

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

It reminds me when I was going through some White-fronted Goose resightings in the 1980's from County Clare recently - on one survey card it was noted that the flock was using a field that they hadn't used for years, and the the locals in the pub were saying it was a sign that it'd be a bad winter - I then checked the weather records and saw that that January was one of the coldest for a long time!


....of course the two were completely unrelated! Just a coincidence. I'm sure plenty of similar observations have been made the length and breadth of the country every year, and people forget the ones that don't come true and remember the ones that do.

Enjoy your scepticism and limited knowledge as I do my deep instincts

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Rosier wrote: »

Enjoy your scepticism and limited knowledge as I do my deep instincts

I think you have come to the wrong forum to find people of either a sceptic nature or limited knowledge.
Indeed some extremely knowledgeable people on this particular forum
In addition to knowledge we have access to facts.
For instance I have records of fruit and seed harvests in one county for 27 years. I also have a note of the weather in that period. I can assure you it's 50/50 on a bumper crop signalling ,or not, a severe winter.
My old bones (older than yours I suspect) talk to me too at times but I find them not the most honest of companions.

cscook

I'm curious about where the op has seen so many sloes (viewing on mobile, so can't see if location is listed). We've just come over to the West for the weekend and our usual site for picking has offered us very slim pickings indeed. I think we have only found as many as we gave away a couple of years ago as being surplus to our own requirements.

Woodville56

Rosier wrote: »

Seeing rowans bent nearly to the ground with berries.... delicious jelly they make, and jams etc are

indeed the Rowanberry crop appears to be particularly bountiful this year. Was walking in a woodland here in the midlands last week and Rowan trees laden with fruit were providing a veritable feast for Mistle Thrushes, Song Thrushes, Blackcap and Bullfinches . even ! Just watched for a few minutes and a constant stream of birds arriving to partake in the harvest supply of berries - wonderful to watch !!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

cscook wrote: »

I'm curious about where the op has seen so many sloes (viewing on mobile, so can't see if location is listed). We've just come over to the West for the weekend and our usual site for picking has offered us very slim pickings indeed. I think we have only found as many as we gave away a couple of years ago as being surplus to our own requirements.

He is in Kerry I believe and is relatively new to the area, so his experience of the crops historically in the area is limited.
Sloes are below average here (north east) too although most other fruits are in abundance. Just a matter of timing with the weather this year I suspect.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Woodville56 wrote: »

indeed the Rowanberry crop appears to be particularly bountiful this year. Was walking in a woodland here in the midlands last week and Rowan trees laden with fruit were providing a veritable feast for Mistle Thrushes, Song Thrushes, Blackcap and Bullfinches . even ! Just watched for a few minutes and a constant stream of birds arriving to partake in the harvest supply of berries - wonderful to watch !!

We always seem to get a great Rowan crop here and this year is no exception. Within the garden I have 5 rowans and as usual they have been stripped by the Mistle thrushes. For a number of days one bird perches among the trees and fights off any other birds that try for the berries. Then the whole flock moves in and stripes the lot in less than 2 fuel days. It's a noisy affair when 20+ mistle thrushes are in a feeding frenzy