The Diary has commented before on what a superb year this is proving for berries, but they're even more noticeable on the sort of brilliantly sunny days we've been having. By weight per twig, the rowans are probably winners, with some of their branches breaking under the strain.
The wild roses have been much more conservative, with a modest showing of hips, but....
....the hawthorns, even the oldest, most lichen-bearded trees, are having a vintage year.
Along the small road down to the Mingary Steading there are several of these small trees laden with berries. While the berries are very similar, their leaves are different from hawthorn.
Here's a close-up. They might be whitebeam, which is a close relative of the rowan.
The garden shrubs aren't to be outdone. Both the cotoneaster (above) and the pyracantha are spectacular.
News of this feast must have spread far and wide as the first fieldfares arrived two weeks ago, which seems very early. If they call their friends, we might have another invasion of the sort we had last winter.
Many thanks to The Raptor for the pictures of the 'whitebeam' and the fieldfares.
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