Photos of the month: July
Martha Boalch, 08/08/2018
This month we received 699 records, 87 with a photo, from 285 recorders. This is more than last month when we had 270 records from 142 people. This can be explained by the masses of fruit ripening in the warm sunshine, we’ve received lots of first ripe blackberry records as well as first ripe sloes and elderberries. Check out the photos and find out more about summer fruits.
Blackberries
It’s been wonderful to see your enthusiasm for first ripe blackberry recording. You can check out the progress of ripe blackberries spreading up through the UK on our map.
Ripe blackberries, Emma Howells
First ripe blackberry, Susan Lovatt
Delicious blackberries, Jane Cleave
Beautiful colours, Linda Sammonds
The photos certainly looked mouth-wateringly tasty. Check out our recipe ideas for how to use your crop. Leave some for wildlife as well.
Blackberries, Patricia Turner
First ripe blackberry, Judith Garforth
Radek Garbowski
Stuart Phethean
Beech
Beech fruits are ripening too. They’re not as colourful as blackberries but have a great texture to the husk around the edible nut. Did you know that beech nuts used to be used as food for pigs?
Beech (amount of fruit), Judith Garforth
Beech nuts, Peter Gordon Smith
Elder
You can’t miss these big bunches of tiny berries. Beautiful dark purple elder berries are rich in vitamin C, they are often used to make preserves and wine. They can even be used to make natural dyes.
Test fruit for ripeness with the 'squish' test, Robert Covell
Small mammals will feed on the berries, Andrea Drewitt
The fruit is also important for birds, Marcia Blackman
Alan Moody
Rowan
Lots of you have spotted the pillar box red berries of rowan appearing. They are a popular food source with birds, especially blackbird, mistle thrush, redstart, redwing, song thrush, fieldfare and waxwing.
Rowan berries, Mary Kerby
Rowan berries, Peter Gordon Smith
Look out for the first autumn tint, Amy Harroe
Blackthorn
Blackthorn first ripe fruit, otherwise known as sloes, are proving to be popular among recorders. Some of you may have been eyeing them up for making your own sloe gin (recipe here).
First ripe blackthorn, Judith Garforth
Sloes, Susan Herlihy
Sloes, Essex Havard
Watch out for the thorns if you go foraging, Mary Kerby
Other
Hazel nuts and oak acorns will be ripening soon. As well as first ripe fruit you can also record the amount of fruit for all the fruit trees.
Hazel nuts (amount of fruit record), Judith Garforth
Oak (pedunculate, amount of fruit), Tracey Welham
What to look out for now
As the warm dry weather is set to continue, albeit interspersed with changeable thundery conditions, there may some unusual wildlife timings ahead.
Tell us when you see the first ivy flowers in your area or the first leaf tint of rowan, silver birch and beech. We use your data to study the impacts of climate change.
Ivy first flower, Ben Lee
Beech first tint, WTML
