According to a tweet from Radio Isles of Scilly, Waxwings have reportedly been eating all the blackberries!

https://twitter.com/radioscilly/stat...26809576714240

Do the waxwings know something, or are they just making the most of the leftover berries?

On 5 Dec, 17:29, Teignmouth wrote:
According to a tweet from Radio Isles of Scilly, Waxwings have reportedly been eating all the blackberries!

https://twitter.com/radioscilly/stat...26809576714240

Do the waxwings know something, or are they just making the most of the leftover berries?

That seems a very long way south and west for them to be - is this
unsual?

On Wednesday, December 5, 2012 6:04:41 PM UTC, Scott W wrote:
On 5 Dec, 17:29, Teignmouth wrote:

According to a tweet from Radio Isles of Scilly, Waxwings have reportedly been eating all the blackberries!



https://twitter.com/radioscilly/stat...26809576714240



Do the waxwings know something, or are they just making the most of the leftover berries?



That seems a very long way south and west for them to be - is this

unsual?

I don't think it's that rare.

There have been waxwings around down here for a while now, since early November http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys...s-all-waxwings

If you go to http://www.sennen-cove.com/birds.htm (just 1 mile from Land's End) and scroll down this months sightings, you will see several mentions of waxwings.

In fact http://www.sennen-cove.com/birds.htm is a good site for bird sightings on the tip of Cornwall.


Graham
Penzance

Teignmouth wrote:
According to a tweet from Radio Isles of Scilly, Waxwings have reportedly been eating all the blackberries!

https://twitter.com/radioscilly/stat...26809576714240

Do the waxwings know something, or are they just making the most of the leftover berries?
------------------------------------
They've come across pretty early this year and further west than usual.
This is really about the food supply where they've come from
(Scandinavia?)but the berry population here is variable this year but of
course they don't know that when they migrate.
Dave

On Wednesday, December 5, 2012 6:30:33 PM UTC, Dave Cornwell wrote:
Teignmouth wrote:

According to a tweet from Radio Isles of Scilly, Waxwings have reportedly been eating all the blackberries!



https://twitter.com/radioscilly/stat...26809576714240



Do the waxwings know something, or are they just making the most of the leftover berries?

------------------------------------

They've come across pretty early this year and further west than usual.

This is really about the food supply where they've come from

(Scandinavia?)but the berry population here is variable this year but of

course they don't know that when they migrate.

Dave

Surely someone could send them a tweet first?

12z ECMWF brrrrrrrr http://www.wetterzentrale.de/topkarten/fsecmeur.html

On Dec 5, 5:29*pm, Teignmouth wrote:
According to a tweet from Radio Isles of Scilly, Waxwings have reportedly been eating all the blackberries!

https://twitter.com/radioscilly/stat...26809576714240

Do the waxwings know something, or are they just making the most of the leftover berries?

Something in blackberries spoils them for human consumption after late
September/early October. I wouldn't be surprised if the sugar turns
into a polysaccharide only a wax lover would eat.

I just looked this up in Wikipedia:

Polysaccharides is an important class of biological polymers. Their
function in living organisms is usually either structure- or storage-
related.

Starch (a polymer of glucose) is used as a storage polysaccharide in
plants, being found in the form of both amylose and the branched
amylopectin.

In animals, the structurally similar glucose polymer is the more
densely branched glycogen, sometimes called 'animal starch'.
Glycogen's properties allow it to be metabolized more quickly.