The latest update from Nature's Calendar, the Woodland Trust’s citizen science project, suggests knock-on effects of heavy rainfall earlier in the year.

The effects of a wet spring may be extending from bees and butterflies to birds, with data suggesting that fruits are scarcer than usual. After 2023’s bumper hawthorn berry crop, numbers have dropped significantly this year, and the hedgerows are looking much less inviting for hungry wildlife.

According to Nature's Calendar data, hawthorn berries have now hit their lowest numbers. As have elderberries, which are scoring just 2.8 on the fruit scale, comfortably below their annual average of 3.66.

Other species such as ash, ivy and oak are also showing their lowest fruit scores since current records began in 2001.