The rains came to visit and then decided to stay. Lots of rain, lots of sun, lots of rainbows, with warm days and mild nights. Storms battered the UK and floods brought various areas to a standstill. In the early part of the month there was a veritable confusion of growth and decay all around us. Many trees in the wood were still thick with leaves, mostly green but some moving to shades of deep yellow. Weeds were thriving and the slug problem was back in full swing. Nasturtiums and Alexanders were still bursting forth with new and lush growth, until finally the first frost appeared at the end of the month. A beautiful crisp morning with the sun in the sky. Puddles of rain frozen solid and crunchy underfoot in the field and dangerously slippery in wellingtons - as I found out. Finally my hands were properly cold and it felt good to don the hat and scarf but the moment passed by quickly. The month ended with more confusion for the eye; a weird disply of fiery autumn colours alongside the frost encrusted leaves of new cranesbill plants emerging from the grass, not usually seen until April. Warm orange on the tips of trees and bleached frosted growth beneath my feet.
The birds came back and the feeders emptied at an alarming rate. On several evenings we caught sight of small scale murmurings of the starlings and listened to their noisy chatter as they gathered their numbers in the trees. The birdsong was in full swing down at the edge of the woods. This month's recording showed a much greater variety than the October version. The named birds were; Robins, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Fieldfare, MeadowPipit, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Canada Jay (still lurking somewhere in the woods apparently but I remain sceptical), Crow, Wren, Jackdaw, Blackbird and, wait for this one; a Barred Forest Falcon. Once again, I checked out the possiblity of this sound recording and I found that the species is generally restricted to mature, tropical forests, the coasts of South America, Western Mexico etc. Now I know it's been quite mild in The Lizard this Autumn but tropical? Surely not. Apparently the cry of this Falcon is similar to the sound of a small dog barking - it just so happens that my neighbour on the other side of our woods, has small dogs. I'm just saying.
The fightback against nature loss, spearheaded by the RSPB as #AttackOnNature, continues apace. "Worldwide, up to 4 million species face extinction. In the UK alone, many birds are in decline, many pollinator species are facing extinction and more than a quarter of our mammals are at risk of disappearing completely". (RSPB). And yet, we continue to overuse pesticides and fertilisers, inspite of overwhelming evidence that they damage our soil ecosystem, pollute rivers, streams and oceans and kill bees and pollinating insects and in turn, disrupt the food chain for birds and mammals. Inspite of a ban of the lethal pesticide neonicotinoids, our UK government continues to grant special dispensation for its use and in 2022 allowed it to be used on Sugar Beet to combat beet yellow virus, this will mean that there is no place for bees and pollinator insects to forage for 3 years on these fields.
Sugar Beet is the crop from which sucrose is extracted and the UK crops provides over half the sugar we consume. According to feedbackglobal.org in the UK we use over 100,000 hectares of prime agricultural land to grow a crop that we need to eat less of, because it is fuelling the obesity crisis and killing us. The British sugar company which controls this industry has plans to increase its production by 50%. The madness does not stop there. Most adults in the UK already consume double the 'recommended' daily allowance of sugar. In addition to this unhealthy consumption for humans, the Sugar Beet is harvested late in the year when the soils are wet and large amounts of soil is lifted from the ground when it is harvested. 'British Sugar', is 'responsible for removing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of precious topsoil each year',(openaccessgovernment.com). It takes between 200 and 400 years to form 1 centimetre of topsoil, which is at the heart of our agricultural needs and here we are destroying it, to farm a crop that is causing wide scale ill health, which in turn is crippling the NHS and casing misery to millions of people. 'UK's sugar reduction journey may not have been successful to date but the evidence between excess sugar consumption intake and health has not changed, and the nation's consumption has not gone down', leading to 'an increased risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, tooth decay, type 2 diabetes and obesity' (openaccessgovernment.org). Treating Type 2 diabetes costs 8.8 billion per year in the UK.
The National Farmers Union (online.com) promotes, 'the work of sugar beet growers to the general public' and informs you as to how 'you can get involved in supporting the sugar beet industry'. No mention of any problems concerning the health of our soil or the cost to human health. The Guardian newspaper ran an article in 2021 'A Perfect Storm', citing all the challenges meeting the British sugar industry. Again, no mention of the true cost to society. Needless to say, at the last convention led by the Sugar Industry Programme, there were 15 MPs present, 11 of which were Conservative. No surprises there. To quote from sustainweb.org; 'We eat too much, we grow too much and we import too much'. Meanwhile back at the convention, 'Future of Sugar', Sugar Beet farming was billed as; 'an agricultural success story the UK should be proud of.' Yup, it beggars belief.
And here, in my garden on The Lizard, at the end of November, a beautiful pink rose is blooming - and sadly, it's not something to celebrate.
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