nature, Photography

Winter Colours

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Many of us have been enjoying the seasonal lighting that’s prevalent at this time of year, but nature has been providing some too if very much limited at this time of year.

These bright red barberries are lovely to see but will be all gone by the time March rolls around. Birds will eat them but only as a last resort when all other choices have been consumed. Apparently they don’t taste too great but they do resemble fairy lights, don’t they?

Now that January has arrived, I don’t expect these mountain ash berries to last long as they’re favoured by both birds and squirrels. In the meantime though, they are a lovely source of January colour, especially as the seasonal lights will soon be packed away again.

I spotted this pretty little rose growing in a beautifully protected spot; several others were also growing nearby. Winter roses – what a treat!

Happy Saturday.

29 thoughts on “Winter Colours”

  3. Looking at the size of the bunches of mountain ash berries, that speaks to a long hard winter, but the little rare rose offers hope. How brave to stand up to winter. Happy Saturday Lynette. Allan

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    1. Thanks, Allan. Yes, that’s exactly what older people used to say when I was a child. So far our winter has been quite normal but one never knows what could be coming. It was such a gift to find that little rose. Cheers.

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  5. It’s a good thing those berries are still hanging onto the trees and shrubs at this time of the year. Some of those birds, especially the robins, get pretty desperate right around now, when the snow has hit the higher levels.

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      1. That’s the time the robins show up here (closer to sea level) in the winter – when the snow covers their food sources at the higher elevations. That’s when the mountain ash berries, holly berries, and cotoneaster berries become a big part of their diet.

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        1. I’ve seen quite a few robins here in the valley already – I don’t think I’ve seen so many before – and have definitely heard them in their little covey shelters that they build, one in particular that I frequently walk past. In that case, I’ve noticed that the nearby cotoneasters and mountain ash berries are declining in number. I’ve been wondering if lots of these robins just stay here in the valley rather than moving into the mountains when it warms up.

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    1. It has a number of different names; here’s the Wikipedia entry for it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berberis I wasn’t able to find a Swedish translation either; the closest I got was Norwegian which is “berberis.”

      It’s very high in vitamin C and also has major anti-inflammatory properties. It’s being studied to see what part it could play in managing various health issues. Here’s an article. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/barberries

      Cheers.

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