Dogwoods and Holly
BlkVulture@aol.com
Tue, 24 Nov 1998 12:41:26 EST
Hello all...
In the immediate area of my property around my house, I have perhaps 40-50
dogwoods. There are at least twice as many holly trees. What I noticed a
week or so ago was that the dogwoods did not produce any berries this year.
All except three. Those three were watered, one for the entire summer, the
other two only at the end of summer. The one tree that was watered all summer
still has 80 percent of its leaves, experienced some growth, and has a full
compliment of berries. The other two are bare, with a few berries. I have
not found another dogwood on my entire property that has a berry. The hollies
all seem to have a good supply of berries.
Already I have made a few observations. I moved into my house in September of
1997. By this time last year, I was seeing several hermit thrushes on a daily
basis. This year, I have only seen one. The dogwood that is full of berries
is immediately outside my door, and next to my house. Virtually every time I
open that door, a hermit thrush zips across the driveway into some cover.
Often there is a cardinal in the tree as well. The first conclusion I draw is
that dogwood berries are preferred to holly berries. Seems logical since the
thrush is willing to be a foot away from the side of my house when there is
and abundance of holly berries close by. Add to this bird's incentive that I
am often letting five dogs out the door.
The second conclusion I am willing to draw is that the other hermit thrushes
have pushed to other areas that have a preferred food source. I admit it is
possible that no other hermit thrushes have arrived this year. But I suspect
the former. Since I have seen hermit thrushes eating holly berries in holly
trees, I wonder why. This is obviously an accecptable food source, why would
they not eat it when it is available? Do holly berries ripen in spring? Will
the thrush that is eating my dogwood berries switch to holly when the dogwood
supply is depleted? Or will it move elsewhere? Or will I even be able to
tell since I may not see it again if it does switch to holly berries? So many
questions.
Another notable ingredient is bluebirds. My property is in a wooded area that
is in about 500 acres with 20 or so house lots, one road, and a powerline cut
through the middle of it. Around the perimeter is farmland. Mostly cattle
pastures. Some overgrown fields. Very little corn. Last January bluebirds
arrived and stayed for a couple weeks. About eight birds. This was the first
time I had seen bluebirds in wooded areas. The clearing around my house is
small, about 1/3 acre, half of which is gravel. The shortest distance to a
field is about 250 yards through trees, mostly deciduous with holly and
dogwood undergrowth. These birds arrived, and ate dogwood berries until they
were depleted totally. Occasionally you would see bluebirds in the holly, but
dogwoods were preferred. Something tells me this year, I will see no
bluebirds. This dogwood will soon be depleted. Which brings me to the next
question. What kind of mortality will birds, specifically thrushes, suffer
due to a dry year? The dogwoods clearly did not produce berries due to the
lack of rain. How large of an area that was affected by this, I dont know.
My guess is that the birds will find an area that has dogwoods, or some other
suitable food source, and compete with birds that already exist in that area.
One would think that this means some birds may perish as a result. It could
also mean that there is an abundant food source for these birds somewhere
else. Perhaps last year was an abnormal amount of thrushes in my yard. This
leads to the question of if, and then when, would an impact of a bad winter
for thrushes be felt? Would we see fewer birds in spring? Would we notice
this next winter? Will it not be felt at all? Is there no issue here at all?
Having discussed this with a couple other people, I thought I would put it
here and see if anyone has any insight to this. Admittedly, I only have one
year to make a comparison to, and that could be a problem as well.
Cheers,
Todd M. Day
Jeffersonton, VA
BlkVulture@aol.com