Yes we do, now that you mention it. It’s rare that they spend the Winter here, but some do. That was interesting to know. I’ll keep my eyes open if I see them this coming Winter. It’s been unseasonally warm. Some plants are starting a new flowering cycle, and there are even blooms of cyanobacteria still going on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia as well.
Mistletoe is a pest in my region for all fruit trees, maple, poplar etc.
It is allowed to remove it for the protection of trees and for private decoration.
For whatever reason, commercial collectors need a formal authorization.
We have Turdus viscivorus in region but not sure its the only bird taking the berries.
They seem to leave the bird quite quickly and the manure sticks on every branch.
I have to cut mistletoe out of my large maple tree every 2nd year, otherwise it would look like below example https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/264123081
So sorry your region got infected…
I take it this was for me? Thanks. I’ve been surprised at how fast it spreads. I read it has some difficulty infecting oaks, but it’s still growing quite prolifically in the oak grove (the only one in the country) we have here. I guess it’s about the saturation in this case.
The climate change is starting to be pretty visible. New species, especially insects keep popping up. Old species are moving northward or die off. Some become more common, like the Giant house spider (Eratigena atrica). One that has gained a foothold is paper silverfish (Ctenolepisma longicaudatum) after online shopping from East Asia became more common. There’s also a running battle against Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis). So far, our waters don’t have enough salinity for it to breed, but ships keep bringing them in their ballast tanks and they are closely watched to try and prevent them from settling should the situation change.
In my 45 years, even the weather systems have changed noticeably. I used to be quite accurate predicting tomorrow’s weather from natural signs. Not so much anymore. And sure, we had the occasional day of temps being over 30°C in the Summer, but not even every year (we have photos of the thermometer in my parent’s album as it was rare enough). Now it’s been every damn Summer and for days on end for the past 6-7 years.
Apparently not really “unexpected” as the flies hitching a ride on this Dung Roller are actually in the Lesser Dung fly family-Norrbomia Frigipennis so this is apparently their jam. This was a first for me but I have seen the flies on another species of Dung Roller since.