The month started with an, 'artic maritime airmass bringing cold temperatures to the UK' (MET Office). I looked up the January posts for previous years to compare weather fronts. In 2021 there was two weeks of bitterly cold weather here on The Lizard with temperatures going down to -7 degrees on more than one night and a regular -4 on other nights. This year so far we have only gone down to -2 degrees on a couple of nights. In 2022 and 2023 the weather was more stormy and windy bringing lots and lots of rain but not the freezing weather. This year in January the storms came late in the month and hit many parts of Cornwall very hard, with Newquay experiencing a tornedo and the rest of us experiencing very heavy rain, thunder, lightening, and winds that uprooted trees and destroyed homes.
I was interested to see the weather of past years because, to date, although the pattern is changing with weather, the wildflowers are being consistent in their behaviour, with the same plants emerging at the same time. Here, in the field we had snowdrops, daffodils shooting up through all the dead debris from the trees, the Camellias here and all around the area were in full bloom. The broad beans are all about 6 - 8 inches high and looking sturdy, Gorse put in a strong appearance, the Alexanders were covering the sides of the field, plenty of Lamb's Tails were showing all over the field and clumps of brave Primroses were also in bloom by the end of the month. And so it seems, whatever the weather the plants around here know what they are supposed to do on any given date in the year. So far.
On the whole January can feel like a difficult month to get through after all the many ceremonies that abound during the end of the year to help us through the dark and cold of the Winter. However, there are the murmurations to bring amazement and wonder into our lives. I had several drives back from Penzance this month, in the time of dusk and each time I was witness to the best displays of Starling murmurations I have ever seen. For a few years now these events have been taking place over Penzance town and in the harbour. Before now, I had only seen murmurations take place across open fields. This time the birds moved between buildings, over the chimney tops and down through alleyways onto the boats in the harbour and over the sea. It was a glorious kinetic sculpture. I had to park up the car and watch, it was too much just to drive by and witness it, I wanted to stay as long as possible. Sometimes in the early evening at home we can hear the Starlings gathering together in the trees above the field, chatting and getting ready for flight but we never get to see them from here. However, we do see the Rooks, queues of them on the telegraph wires and they also do their own fly over every morning and night to and from their daily feeding ground and although it's not quite the glory of the murmurations, hundreds of them pass overhead, crying and calling to each other.
In addition to the joy of witnessing full blown murmurations there has been very good news for the Bees. The government has refused the application for the use of neonicotinoids on the Sugar Beet grown in the UK. This is grown in East Anglia and East Midlands and for the past 4 years the Sugar Beet farmers have been given 'emergency' use of Bee killing pesticides, inspite of making a commitment to end reliance on it by 2023. The UK has supported an insane circle of destruction in the pursuit of growing Sugar Beet. Firstly, the product is bad for our health and adds considerable cost to the NHS of treating ill health related to sugar consumption. Secondly, it is bad for the soil as it is harvested in the wet months of Autumn and large amounts of it is lifted up with the product and taken off the land, adding 20% to annual soil loss in the UK. Thirdly, the land is known to be some of 'the best and most fertile land in the country'. (Information supplied by feedbackglobal.org) Clearly it should be used for growing food. And lastly, these pesticides kill all the pollinating insects, the Bees, the Butterflies and it takes 3 years for the poison to leave the land. This is a massive win for the Bees and environment and it's good to have positive news to celebrate.
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