A mast year
It's been almost impossible to go out for a walk lately and not get bonked on the head by a falling acorn or beech nut. The paths through the woods are strewn with the trees' bounty, far too much for the squirrels to hide away as is their usual wont. I'm sure they're as busy as they usually are; they just can't keep up with what's available.
I was reminded recently of the term mast year, which describes exactly what we're experiencing this autumn. My reasoning on why this is happening is:
- We had a mild, wet winter so the trees had a good drink and had plenty of opportunity to prime themselves ready for spring without snow, frost and ice getting in the way
- Blossom came early, and for once it wasn't blown away by a winter storm or loosened by a frost
- It was a warm spring so the bees and other pollinators maximised their activities in the sunshine
- They were so efficient that even the later spring and early summer drought wasn't sufficient to bring fruiting down to a more normal level
- Summer rain was just enough to bring all those fruits and nuts along to maturity
I was congratulating myself on working all that out for myself when I found this piece by the Woodland Trust on what a mast year is. It seems that trees are cleverer than I and practise something called predator satiation. It means the tree keeps its predators in check by producing much smaller crops most years so their numbers dwindle away, and then, when their numbers are low it produces a bumper crop, much more than predators like mice and squirrels can possibly eat. It means some of the nuts and acorns survive, and germinate to produce the next generation of trees. This happens every 5 to 10 years.
I've noticed all the berrying trees seem to have adopted the same strategy too. Usually the hawthorn over the fence has been stripped bare by the blackbirds by now, but not only are they still feeding, I'm sure I've heard many more birds in there than usual.
We may not have had much in the way of mists yet, but we're certainly having an autumn season of mellow fruitfulness this year. I'm loving my neighbourhood walks as a result.
Have you noticed the same in your area?
