The Woodland Trust says that 2013 will be a bumper year for fruiting autumn berries, with wild berries benefitting from the hot weather.
Dr Kate Lewthwaite, project manager of the Woodland Trust's Nature's Calendar Project, explained: 'Although our records suggest that autumn fruiting will be late this year due to the delayed onset of spring flowering, if the warm weather interspersed with occasional wet spells continues, this should mean the fruiting of shrubs like bramble, rowan and blackthorn, is abundant.'
According to Lewthwaite, the large volume of wild berries will be a welcome addition for the UK's wildlife after last year's wet conditions during the summer resulted in late leaf tints, late fruiting and exceptionally poor crops of wild fruit.
She added: 'Last year, birds and mammals suffered some of the poorest fruiting crop in years and this, coupled with the prolonged cold snap in spring, meant that many species had to endure a long period without a decent food supply.
'In order to better understand the impacts of long-term changing climate on some of the UK’s most-loved native species, we need the public to record their autumn sightings on our Nature’s Calendar website.”
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