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BLACKBERRY WINTER

We first heard the phrase "Blackberry Winter" about 20 years ago and have been intrigued ever since for numerous reasons. First of all, "Blackberry winter" is a seeming contradiction; even here in the balmy Southland we don't have blackberries when long, cold, dark winter nights arrive. Second, for us the term literally rolls off the tongue in a poetic sort of way; we like the way it sounds. Then, too, we're pleased by the phrase because we once watched late, great piano lyricist Loonis McGlohon of nearby Charlotte NC play "Blackberry Winter"--a beautifully haunting melody written by Alec Wilder and well worth having in your jazz collection. But our main reason for appreciating this unusual couplet is that we've come to understand its folklore meaning AND because we actually experienced "Blackberry Winter" just this week at Hilton Pond Center.

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Here in the Carolina Piedmont, Blackberries begin blooming in April and most fruit by the end of June; it is with great anticipation we look forward each Fourth of July to stuffing ourselves with the last of the season's succulent, seed-laden berries. The structure of the blackberry flower--a five-petalled blossom with its tangle of pollen-bearing stamens (above)--is a sure sign Blackberries are in the Rose Family (Rosaceae). Because there are dozens--perhaps hundreds--of Blackberry species, there is amazing variation in petal shape (from long skinny ones to the almost-round paddle shape shown here) and in petal color (ranging from pure white to delicate pink to near-lavender). At Hilton Pond Center one Blackberry variety or another is in flower from about the second week in April through mid-May, which is where the phrase "Blackberry Winter" comes in.

It seems almost every Carolina Piedmont spring begins with on-going warm, balmy days and weeks that lull us into thinking summer, too, is nearly upon us. Invariably, as soon as we have packed away our winter sweatsuits and exchanged them for a fair-weather wardrobe of shorts, T-shirt, and flip-flops, temperatures drop markedly in early May. This "cold snap" never ceases to surprise folks, and the phenomenon has its own name: "Blackberry Winter," for it occurs after the Blackberry vines have begun to bloom.

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center

We did indeed have a "Blackberry Winter" this week at Hilton Pond Center, when nighttime temperatures dropped into the mid- to upper-40s and daytime highs hovered at or below 60. Skies were cloudy, humidity was up, and it sure enough felt like winter was descending once again on the local Blackberry patch. It wasn't cold enough to kill the Blackberry blossoms, of course, but the weather did seem to have an impact on other organisms. For example, a little two-foot-long Eastern Garter Snake (above) was motionless for at least a quarter hour in an open area near our small water garden. Although we didn't catch it for close examination, the snake appeared to be a female because of the broadness of her body just ahead of her vent. The snake didn't budge when we leaned over and took photos from a mere three feet away, and she barely even stuck out her red tongue to sense the air around her--likely because the cool ambient temperatures weren't all that pleasant for such a poikilothermic ("cold-blooded") creature.

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center

We also had the season's first two Rose-breasted Grosbeaks show up at Hilton Pond during our "Blackberry Winter." They literally camped out at one of the sunflower seed feeders for two straight days, eating the energy-rich oil seeds almost non-stop from dawn to dusk. We finally pulled the feeder to re-fill it, and within 20 minutes both birds were caught together in a nearby trap that also contained sunflower seeds. In the hand we could see both grosbeaks had also found some succulent berries to snack on; the bird in the photo above had dried red fruit juice stuck on its rather substantial bill. These grosbeaks were just passing through on their way to breeding grounds in Appalachia, the northeastern U.S., or Canada and won't be back until the fall. We were a bit surprised NOT to see an adult male this spring, but we don't get many Rose-breasted Grosbeaks anyway; since 1982 we've banded only 33 at the Center.

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Despite the chill of this week's "Blackberry Winter," we still went out riding every day on our new carbon fiber 20-speed Fuji road bicycle. We've always enjoyed pedaling the back roads of South Carolina, in part because it's a much better way to look at nature than from the isolation of an air conditioned auto whizzing down the highway at 60 mph. We're grateful there are numerous quiet by-ways still left here in western York County, where in spring one of our favorite things about riding is the smell of flowers as we glide past one floral patch after another. During "Blackberry Winter," the air is heavy and damp and odors hug the ground so smells can be very intense--almost intoxicating. Such was the case this week when the two sweetest spring flowers--Japanese Honeysuckle (top flowers above) and Japanese Privet--teamed up to waft their fragrances in our direction. As much as we detest the damage done to local habitats by these two invasive plants, for a few weeks each spring we relish the pleasant feeling we experience breathing in their delicious scent as we pedal down some country lane.

Back here at the Center, "Blackberry Winter" may slow things down a bit, but it never gets so blustery that Blackberry blossoms die. The cold snap doesn't last very long and by week's end the weather was almost back to normal for mid-May--allowing all those tiny green Blackberries around Hilton Pond to begin their ripening process. Rest assured we won't forget to think about this week's "Blackberry Winter" when we pluck our tasty Blackberry fruit from prickly vines come June or July.

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center

ANCILLARY NOTE: Although not related to "Blackberry Winter," we did get an item in the mail this week from the federal Bird Banding Laboratory in Patuxent MD. Bird banders are always excited to receive an envelope from that address because sometimes it reveals one of our banded birds has been encountered at another location. That was indeed the case with our latest receipt, which included a coveted "Report to Bander."

Described in the RTP were details that bird #2270-65988--an American Goldfinch banded at Hilton Pond Center as a hatch-year female on 11 December 2004--had been found dead almost a year later on 2 September 2005 in Rumford, Maine, by Pat Riemensnider. Pat reported the bird through the BBL's new Web Site Form; a toll-free number (1-800-327-BAND) also could have been used. This goldfinch, which we banded within its wintering area, undoubtedly was still on its breeding grounds when Pat found it in Maine--869 straight-line miles from Hilton Pond.

Of more than 47,400 birds banded at the Center since 1982, only 50 have been reported outside York County SC--an admittedly low rate of only .11%. The recent Maine encounter was our fourth American Goldfinch found elsewhere; its predecessors were all in New York towns: Albion (650 miles from York), Shortsville (594 miles), and Dryden (580 miles).

Please see Hilton Pond Bird Encounters for a complete list of individual birds banded at the Center and found or recaptured elsewhere.

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All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center

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Thanks to the following fine folks for recent gifts in support of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History and/or Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project. Your contributions allow us to continue writing, photographing, and sharing "This Week at Hilton Pond."

Be sure to scroll down for an account of all birds banded or recaptured during the week, plus other nature notes of interest.

"This Week at Hilton Pond" is written & photographed
by Bill Hilton Jr., executive director of
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History.

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