Wild Berries

June 18, 2026

Black Raspberries (Rubus occidentalis).

They’re beginning to ripen up here, much to the delight of oodles of animals including many bird species like catbirds, finches, wild turkeys, robins, blue jays, and cardinals. Mammals such as raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, deer, bears, mice, opossums, and foxes also enjoy the berries.

The stems of Black Raspberry bushes have a unique color of bluish-green, with a coating of powdery, waxy whitish-gray, called a glaucous bloom, making it easy to identify during the offseason.

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.