Many bloggers are posting about their berries. Berries are super great in the garden! Not only do they look great but they attract some fine birds. Such as the one above and in the video below. It was quite upset with me for disturbing its fine breakfast of Red Twig Dogwood berries. Red twig dogwood berries you all are saying? Yeah right!
Now when I purchased this huge fellow at Wal-mart several years ago, the tag said, "Red twig Dogwood". This is not Cornus stolonifera, at least not as far I can tell. I have no idea what kind it it and am hoping you all can help. It does have red twigs in the winter. This is a good sign-yes? But that is where similarities seem to end. This shrub is easily 10 feet wide and nearly that tall. It does bloom the standard red twig blooms in the spring, but these are the berries! Not the usual white berries! They are huge and rather delectable to the wildlife because they do not hang around for long.
Can you all help me to identify this 'Red Twig' dogwood? Does anyone know what type or cultivar it really is?The little bird was so cute I just had to tape him so you all can hear him. He was quite animated and annoyed with me for intruding. We know those birds can have such personalities!
in the garden....
I think the only berries I have right now are on my Berry Beauties or Beauty Berries, whichever you call them, I can never remember.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina, hmmm, my berries are white and the leaves are variegated. I will try and find the name but your leaves do look like dogwoods and the stems are red in winter? I will get back to you. Love the towhee.?
ReplyDeleteFrances
Aww, that little bird was chirping "towhee"! We are getting tons of blackberries, I don't have any idea about yoy bush, although the berries look alittle like elderberries.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning All,
ReplyDeleteTina, I enjoy the video. The little birdie sure looked & sounded upset with you.
I have no clue about the plant but the Berries are pretty. Just more food for the wildlife.
I hope Jean, Dawn & family didn't get too much of Kyle.
I hope everyone has a very lovely day.
I like those towhees also. We have a couple that visit us from time to time. Your dogwood could be Cornus alba 'Sibirica' I found a description that seemed close at Monrovia's site. (http://www.monrovia.com/learn/plant_catalog/detail.php?id=139) I wish our dogwoods were mature enough to produce berries! Maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteYour little bird sounds lonely or confused--I hope he finds what he's looking for! I have no idea about your dogwood, but I'm sure somebody will be able to identify it for you.
ReplyDeleteSorry can't help you with the identity of your bush. The blue berries are nice though, I bet the birds really enjoy them at this time of the year. Your little bird is really carrying on. lol
ReplyDeleteWas Mr. Towhee mad at you for filming him or calling for his bride to join him at the buffet? lol... Great voice he has and now I know that sound as I hear it from our resident Towhee family… A mocking bird sang to us yesterday while we waxed the car! I love their many songs…
ReplyDeleteWe dont have too many berries in our yard but find berry poop from the birds all over the place so they are finding them somewhere...
Jillybean, Hi there! Sorry about all your worries down there in Georgia. I love beautyberries. Very pretty and birds like them too.
ReplyDeleteFrances, Congrats again for winning BEST US BLOG AND BLOG OF THE YEAR! I did not know what kind of bird this was but you and everyone says a towhee so now I am happy I know! Thanks!
Dawn, I don't know why I didn't know what kind of bird this was. I was just surprised to see it. Now I need to study up on it. My berries are nearly gone!
Lola, That little bird made my morning. It would not leave those berries but wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a good picture and video. Urrr! Glad you all could see it and listen. He was so sweet.
Dave, I think you may be right on my Cornus. I have added that type to catalog. This seems to be the only cornus that has small blue berries but it according to the description it only gets 4-5 feet wide, mine is easily 10 feet but I think sometimes shrubs outgrow their supposed dimensions? Not sure but Sibirica works for me! Thanks for finding that for me so much. I had never seen towhees before. Poor me.
Rose, Good morning! Yes, this towhee was not happy I interrupted his morning meal. He got right back to it when I left.
PG, Yes, he was worried a bit but still brave. Carrying on for sure!
Skeeter, I didn't see another towhee anywhere and I would think there would be more, but it is possible. I am seeing more mockingbirds lately too. I still haven't taught any to do a catcall though:( I am finding berry poop everywhere too and I am thinking it must be from these berries. I don't like it at all.
That's quite a voice Tina, and the berries are pretty! I've got two berry trees (Eugenias)--one's sweet and the other's not. We gorge on the sweet ones and the birds feast on both!!
ReplyDeleteA towhee. I'm glad I figured out what sort of bird it is. It is quite beautiful. But then, aren't all birds beautiful? I can even find the mockingbird and grackle pretty if I ignore their behavior!
ReplyDeleteBrenda
Hi Tina, I can't help id your bush either. I have pagoda dogwoods with purple/black berries but they don't look like yours and they appear much earlier.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
I enjoyed the video but as a lifetime owner of birds, I did'nt think it sounded like a scolding sound but that he was just talking to you. Maybe outside birds scold
ReplyDeletedifferently.
Kanak, I have NO idea what Eugenias are but they sound pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteBrenda, I didn't know what type it was either. Yes, all birds can be pretty but some mischievous.
Marnie, That is okay on the dogwood. I'll have to check out Pagodas as I have never heard of them.
Mom, Maybe not scolding but a bit disturbed I bothered him for sure. It was a cute cute bird. I love them all and butterflies too. I liked his twee twee or is it t-ow eee? Not sure.
Loved the video! The sounds of birds are always calming to me, even when they seem anxious!
ReplyDeleteThe only dogwood I've seen locally has white berries, so I'm of no help id'ing your shrub. But the bird is delightful, as are those purplish berries. :)
ReplyDeletesounds like you had some very vocal company in the garden Tina!
ReplyDeleteThe blue berries are very pretty. It's nice your dogwood has red branches, whatever kind it is.
This morning I was glad to see rain washing the berry bird poop off our patio table!
I forgot to say before. Lola I am in southern Maine and the hurricane
ReplyDeletewas to hit the eastern part of the state but they ended up not getting much either as it headed to Canada, I think mosty NS so maybe if Nancy Bond reads this, she can tell us. Hope she faired okay. It was the first time in 17 years we had been told we would get a hurricane, so the news channels were saying.
Cindy, Yes he was anxious. I think he thought I'd steal the berries. I am waiting until they are all gone to prune so he has no worries-yet!
ReplyDeleteNancy, Funny you stop by my mother was just mentioning you and hoping you stay safe. CONGRATS on your Blotanical awards as Best Canadian Blog and Best Commenter!
Garden Girl, Can you send us some rain? It has stopped raining here and we are headed into our driest month! Looking forward to a great Spring Fling in your hometown. Can't wait! I am trying to convince Skeeter to come but I think she is holding out for a Tennessee blogger fling. What say you Tennessee bloggers? Can we do it sometime?
Mom, Wasn't Hurricane Gloria the last hurricane to go thru there? I seem to remember one in 1979? Is that right?
Love that bird...
ReplyDeleteNope, Hurricane Bob in 1991, Jack of all Trades and myself just met. Hurricane Bob caused 6 deaths in Maine
ReplyDeleteI love that video! It makes me think of a guy munching on snacks while watching a football game and getting ticked off because a woman has the audacity to interrupt his concentration! Naughty Tina!
ReplyDeleteI have berries on the Hollies, but they are still green. The wax mytrle has berries, but this is my first year to have one, so I have no idea what comes from them. I so wish I had a beauty berry!
ReplyDeleteJan, It is sweet for sure!
ReplyDeleteDawn, 1991 was a LONG time after I left Maine. Do you remember the hurricane I am talking about? We were still in high school.
Walk2Write, This must be a male bird you think? Audacity indeed on my part. lol
Meadowview Thymes, I have never grown wax myrtles and they sound very interesting. Hopefully some pretty berries like the hollies. Beautyberries are easy to grow and I think they grow in Texas. I mail ordered one of mine, a friend who has her own commercial greenhouse picked some ripe berries and planted them and they grew. She gave me one. So if you see some berries I'm thinking you might want to snatch them and put them in a pot for your own free plant.:)
I think it might be good that you don't talk birdtalk. I am sure he was being polite! LOL
ReplyDeleteI love all the berry pictures lately. I can't help you out on the red tip dog wood. It does seem odd that it would have a different color berry. I'll bet someone will know.
Hi, Tina--I'd agree with Dave that the best guess is Cornus Alba Sibirica, which does get tall and has blue-ish berries--but yours are REALLY blue! The video of the bird was great!
ReplyDeleteEve, Thanks. It was a lot of fun visiting with the guy. Thanks for trying with the dogwood.
ReplyDeleteCosmo, Thanks! I wish you all could've seen the bird better but the picture enlarged worked. I think also a Sibirica is the best guess. Odd no one seems to know this dogwood. Wal-mart is not so good with marking plants but I tell you I get the BEST plant there! Probably because they aren't marked. Where've you been lately? Work keeping you busy?
Yup, we did have a hurricane in, I think 1978 or 79 when we were living by the causeway and you were in high school. Soneones's mooring ended up in our yard and Land's End shop got washed in the ocean. But I can't remmember what its name was. It could very well have been Gloria as I do remember we had a Gloria run thru here.
ReplyDeleteIn either 78 or 79 we had a really bad ice storm in TN. Schools were closed for a long time and we had to go to school on Saturdays to make up for lost time. That was so not fun for us to go to school on Sat... lol...
ReplyDeleteThat bird sounds as annoyed with you as the squirrel was with me when I was out picking berries and my phone rang.
ReplyDeleteWell, now you guys got me curious, I googled Maine weather. I knew Gloria was in 89 because I worked 2 days, 16hrs each at the group home with people to feed and NO power! I think the one in 79 was Claudette. Sound familiar? Does to me.
ReplyDeleteWe really don't seem to get too many compared to the south.
Must've been Claudette then. I could've sworn it was Gloria but Googling it will tell the truth. Thanks Dawn and Mom! Memories, yes we lived by the causeway. Lost power for several days and it was in January I believe? Or December?
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, The last time we had an ice storm since I have been here was like Christmas 2004 I think? But it was during Christmas break. Poor kiddos-didn't miss any school!
Cinj, Were you stealing a squirrel's berries? Shame on you! Don't you know he has to get ready for winter? lol Those squirrels sound awful when they are mad. Was he mad because of the phone or because you were picking his berries?
It was really so sorrowful, we discovered at about 6:30, we had a porcupine high up in a tree, was crying out for help, sounding like a little infant! I kept hearing watch as it got dark, than I didn't hear it after 8:00. But if it is tired and still there in the am, I'm a callin' the FD.
ReplyDeleteNever knew they did that....
Dawn, The porcupines food is the bark on trees so it may be a baby one and his mamma was of eating on another tree and he might have gotten quiet when mamma came back. Best check your trees for too much damage and if you have too much, try to get them with a hava heart trap and take him someplace else.
ReplyDeleteThose berries have such a nice blueberry color. Very pretty.
ReplyDeleteI have seen many birds on what I think are Chinese privet trees. Not sure of the exact type of tree, but I've heard it's invasive.
Dawn, I say leave the porcupine alone, he'll figure it out. Wouldn't want to get stuck and I think the fire guys will laugh about rescuing a porcupine if they even come out. Has it come down yet? And what does a porcupine sound like when it cries? Was it still there?
ReplyDeleteMom, I bet its mamma came back too.
Parsec, Yup, all privet are considered invasive here. The birds for sure eat the berries and poop them all around. Real problem but what can you do? I mean geez, nurseries sell this stuff and it grows well and the birds love it! I like your profile photo. Very restful.
Jack of all trades said when he first went to put the grill on....it sounded like a cross between woman screaming and a infant crying, by the time Nikki came to get me, he/she stopped (people there?) We got the spy glasses, course just a baby up real high where it echoed. Started bleating alittle when I was there and did it some, louder, til about 8:30. Oh, sounds so sad.
ReplyDeleteI just went to check and I can hear little bleats but sounds like it's on the ground, while I walked away I heard a thud and several steps in the rustling shrubs. I think he/she's lost. Least it's down.
Maybe his mamma thinks it is time for him to leave the nest and he does not wanna. Or mamma could have gotten hit by a car or just left him cause something is wrong with him. Animals do that. One time I found a baby seal up on the rocks by the small boat dock at the tank farm. I knew not to touch him but was worried about him so went back to the guard shack and called the game warden and he came down but when we got back to the dock the seal was swimming towards one on the islands, crying all the way. Sound carries so on the water so heard him for a long time. Pathetic and I never forgot that crying. Hope it works out okay for you and you see mamma and baby together.
ReplyDelete