Weatherwatch: Early ripening berries could be bad news for UK’s visiting birds

The warmest summer on record has brought a premature autumn – which could leave little food for overwintering birds

According to the Met Office, autumn in the UK began on 1 September, yet in the hedgerows around my home there have been signs of the season’s arrival for many weeks now, after the warmest summer on record.

Hawthorn trees, which usually produce their crimson berries from mid-September onwards, have been festooned since the second week of August; while blackthorns are drooping under the weight of huge, ripe, purple sloes.

Lovers of the eponymous gin with no doubt celebrate this bumper crop, but it may not be such good news for the birds – especially visitors from the north and east that spend the winter here, taking advantage of the UK’s milder, maritime climate.

Here in rural Somerset, two species of thrush dominate the autumn season. Redwings are the first to arrive from Iceland and Scandinavia, usually turning up from the second week of October, just as the last swallows head south. They are followed a few weeks later by the larger, more cumbersome fieldfares, which travel from farther east.

Both species form huge flocks, gorging themselves on abundant fruits to boost their energy levels for the coming winter. But if the hawthorn berries and sloes have peaked too early, as they appear to have done this year, these birds may face severe food shortages – all because of our changing climate.