Episode 4 Countryfile Autumn Diaries

It's the season that brings with it a kaleidoscope of colour.

When nature puts on some of its greatest displays.

STAG GRUNTS

Autumn.

When our countryside is bursting with bounty.

While some of us are preparing for the colder months ahead.

It's the perfect time to get your boots on,

get out for a walk and enjoy the changing colours of the countryside.

And blow away the cobwebs in the great outdoors.

All week, we're travelling the length and breadth of the UK...

You start to eat the foliage,

you start to have major problems with internal organs.

-OK.

-..bringing the very best seasonal stories that matter to you.

We've actually had a car come through this wall behind me and into

the kitchen. Crashed all the furniture we have in here up against

the far wall.

Welcome to Countryfile Autumn Diaries.

Here's what we've got for you on today's programme.

Keeley reveals how a warmer autumn could spell disaster for a

much-loved woodland creature.

The dormouse population has plummeted by about 70%,

so they could easily disappear completely

from the English countryside.

Steve is witnessing a rare and beautiful autumn event that attracts

-people in their droves.

-Look at that!

-Amazing, isn't it?

-It is.

Thousands of them! Wow!

And I'll be investigating the food you could be eating

to beat the autumn blues.

UPLIFTING MUSIC

We're spending all of this week in the unrivalled beauty of

the Lake District National Park.

We've seen it in glorious sunshine, and now it's raining.

But that's autumn for you.

When the weather's on side,

the Park's lakes and mountains are jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

And even with autumnal clouds rolling in,

the landscape here manages to retain a haunting beauty.

Traditionally, autumn has meant longer nights, harvest festivals,

bonfires - but things are changing.

The season is now warmer than it was 50 or 60 years ago.

But can these rising temperatures be all bad news for farmers and

wildlife? Keeley has been on the search for silver linings amongst

the clouds of climate change.

The changing of the season is always reflected in the flora and the

fauna, and for me, the turning colour of the leaves is a sure sign

that autumn's here.

But some studies suggest that autumn is actually starting later, and over

the last ten years,

leaves like this are turning brown much later in the season.

But it's not just the leaves that are changing.

Last year saw the second-warmest September since records began.

So is talk of shifting seasons just a storm in a teacup or are we really

witnessing a major alteration in our weather?

I'm meeting climate change lecturer Dr Frances Drake to find out.

Welcome to my woodland office. Come on in.

-LAUGHTER

-The map of the UK.

-Yeah.

We'll get onto this in a sec, but first, how is autumn changing?

Well, autumn is gradually warming up.

We can see that if we look back over the decades.

Between 1960s to the 1990s,

it was 9.1 Celsius over the whole of the UK.

For a 24-hour period?

For a 24-hour period, that was the average temperature.

When we move forward in time to the 1980s to 2010,

then we're at 9.4 Celsius, so we've gone up 0.3 degrees.

In the last decade, it's been up to 9.9,

so that's a really big increase.

Because the latest figures only span ten years rather than 30,

experts are cautious about claiming that temperatures will continue to

accelerate at this rate.

But what they can say with confidence is that temperatures

across the whole year have gone up by half a degree.

Hardly too dramatic, surely?

Lots of people at home will be saying,

"That doesn't seem like very much of a rise."

It doesn't sound like very much, but when you

consider that the last ice age, it was 4-7 Celsius over 5,000 years,

we're talking, you know, 50 years, which is very, very quick.

It's not just the temperature change,

it's also the speed at which that change is taking place.

So what does a rise in temperature mean for our countryside and the

food we produce? Yorkshire-based dairy farmer John Dickinson and his

270-strong herd of Jersey cows are on the front line.

What's this year been like for you with the weather, then?

If I could order another year like this, I would do.

Living here on the eastern side of the Pennines, the grass stayed

green, the winter was mild, and then by February again we were grazing

again, the grass was growing, and it was good grass -

-that's the important bit.

-And why was it so good, then?

Well, sunshine, for a start, produces more sugar in the grass.

More sugar is more energy, so the grass is more nutritious.

And when it's raining, the grass is very wet.

Every mouthful has a bigger percentage of water, and water does

not make milk, it's the grass that makes the milk,

so when it's dry, they tend to graze far better.

-They're happier.

-We're seeing some of the seasons change.

What kind of effect is that having on you?

Seasons have changed since when I was young.

If we're having climate change, it's actually suiting us.

-Really?

-Really.

The autumns have got longer and, of course,

we've managed to graze cows outside

for longer periods on good grass.

The cows have liked it.

If it became much wetter then it would be too much of a good thing.

-So they're a bit like us, really?

-Oh, very much so.

-LAUGHTER

-They like it dry and bright, and

-when it's cold and wet they want to be indoors.

-Yeah, just the same,

yeah. They would beat you home if it was raining.

So our changing autumns seem to be suiting John and his herd just fine.

-Lovely.

-We may make a milker out of her yet.

LAUGHTER

But is John's experience of climate change reflected in farms all over

the country? To get the bigger picture,

I'm meeting dairy farming specialist Chris Flint.

So, Chris, we heard from John that he's having a great year, but also

that a later autumn, a warmer autumn, is good for him.

-Yes.

-Is that true for all dairy farmers in the UK, do you think?

Yes, I think it is, because it... The main thing is it extends

the growing season, so grass will grow for longer, so we can harvest

more of it by mechanical means or cows.

Maize is a big crop in the UK for feeding dairy cows, and that wants

warmth and sunshine to mature, and we get bigger crops.

A milder, longer autumn with plenty of good grass and feed sounds like a

win-win situation for cows, but does it really make any noticeable

difference? If they're happy with their environment,

do they tend to milk more?

Yes, they do. Comfortable cows are efficient cows.

When they're happy, everything's working well within their bodies.

If they've had plenty to eat,

they'll lie down and then that's when they're producing milk.

Obviously a warming autumn isn't good for everyone.

That said, it's interesting to hear a positive take on the situation.

But as I'll be finding out later,

our shifting seasons may actually be propelling one native creature

towards extinction.

One sure sign that autumn's here is the annual migration of summer

visitors like house martins and swallows,

heading off to warmer climes.

But just as we bid farewell to them,

we welcome new arrivals from the north, escaping the sub-zero

temperatures of an Arctic winter.

Millions of them turn our beaches into their winter homes.

And at one particular spot on the east coast, that creates quite a

spectacle, as Steve has been finding out.

It's 6am on a chilly September morning, and normally

I'd be tucked up in bed.

But today's a special day, when natural forces align to produce a

rare wildlife event.

For one day each year, this beach in Norfolk plays host to a superb

natural spectacle.

It's a highlight in the birding calendar, and I can't wait see it.

The RSPB reserve at Snettisham, on the Norfolk side of the

Wash Estuary, draws an incredible variety of migrating birds.

Site manager Jim Scott has been lucky enough to work here for

21 years, and, just like me, he set his alarm early this morning.

Jim, I can just see the mist lifting now but you can hear everything out

there, can't you? Tell me some of the species that we might be

-listening to.

-We can hear oystercatchers at the moment,

they're really quite obvious, that high,

sort of shrill call, and lots of bar-tailed godwits.

Redshank coming into the pits now in little groups.

-The shelduck out there, greylag geese...

-Yeah.

-..dunlin, plovers,

a whole variety of different waders that are coming in now

to spend the winter on the mudflats here at the Wash.

And there's one bird in particular, isn't there? The knot.

Now, tell me a little bit about a knot.

That's the species that we get here in the biggest numbers.

We can get 80,000, 90,000, 100,000-plus,

just here at Snettisham.

And sometimes up to 160,000, 180,000

within the whole Wash itself.

The ones that winter in the UK breed up in north-western Greenland and

north-east Canada, so they're coming all that distance here to spend the

winter. They're a sort of medium-sized, dumpy wader, and to

look at, they don't look particularly special, but en masse,

because they love to concentrate in these big flocks,

they really are quite spectacular.

Tens of thousands of migrating birds are attracted here by the massive

mudflats of the Wash Estuary, where they feed on worms and shellfish.

It's a bird-watcher's paradise at this time of year, but this morning

us twitchers are in for a real treat.

What makes today the day?

The height of the tide, basically.

On the highest tides, the really big spring tides,

all the mudflats get covered, so all these wading birds,

they'll all get pushed off and hopefully all come up,

you get them flying right over your head into the lagoons behind us.

So it only happens on a handful of occasions.

And you can see, can't you, while we've been sitting here, already the

water's been creeping along, and some of them making their way across

the water, some of them trying to stay ahead of it on land,

but they're all moving in the same direction?

Yeah. Time for feeding's over, it's now a case of just escaping the

-tide.

-Shall we move along, go and catch them up?

-Yeah, let's do that.

-Let's do it.

It's not just Jim and I and tens of thousands of birds out here this

morning. Autumn is the best time to see the mass flight because the

number of knots on the mudflats is at its highest,

so bird-watchers flock to see the spectacle.

These people travel, don't they?

Yeah, absolutely. These people come from all over the country,

some of them will stay overnight, but I've had people getting up at

1am, 2am, to travel up from the West Country or the south coast

or wherever to get here.

And this is all about following the tide now, isn't it?

They're being pushed up, we're following them up.

-They're going to run out of land soon.

-Yeah, just about.

-Not much to go now.

-How many do you think's out there now? 30,000?

-40,000?

-The knots, something like 30,000-plus.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, possibly.

There's been about 6,000 or 7,000 oystercatcher, plus.

Several thousand other waders as well. So a lot of birds.

That is going to be loud when it goes over, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Everyone's travelled miles to see these birds take flight, but

will our feathered friends rise to the occasion?

-Here they come, am I right?

-Yeah, yeah.

UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS

-Look at that!

-Amazing, isn't it?

-It is!

-There's thousands, thousands of them!

-Yeah, yeah!

-Wow, look!

Ha-ha!

Do you know what, Jim? I think if I was going to do any job for

21 years-plus, I'd like it to be yours.

It's not too bad, is it, on days like this?

No, it's something special.

Beautiful as it is,

it's possible that this magnificent spectacle could soon be a thing of

the past. To get an idea of the enormous challenges these shore

birds face, I'm travelling along the coast to Titchwell Marsh.

I'm meeting the man who knows this area better than most,

the RSPB's Steve Rowland.

This is one of the most important coastlines, but it's also one of the

-ones most under threat.

-The North Norfolk coast and the Wash are

incredibly important wildlife habitats.

Huge number of birds come here, right throughout the year,

specialist species that depend on these unique habitats.

And the special thing is, for the knot in particular, is the expanse

-of mudflats, isn't it?

-That's right, so the Wash, where you've just been,

is the UK's most important estuary for wild birds. Over 350,000 birds

can be on the Wash in the middle of winter, possibly as many as

2 million birds pass through the Wash every year as a

brilliant place to stop and fuel up after a long migratory journey.

And what do you expect to see if the climate keeps changing the way

-it is?

-Climate predictions are for rising sea levels and increased

storminess, and that will affect our coastal habitats.

Quite simply, a rise in water levels will mean the flats are covered.

If we don't allow our coastline to behave naturally, and to move inland

in places, we'll lose species like the knot, the numbers will decline,

it's already happening with many of our shore birds.

And storm surges are having effects now, aren't they?

That's right, so the surge tide of December 2013 created havoc all

along this coast. Where you were at Snettisham, we had four hides there.

One hide was picked up by the sea, turned through 180 degrees and

knocked back down at a 45-degree angle.

One just disappeared, one had huge holes punched in it.

That's the sort of impact that the sea can have.

But more to the point, it changes the habitats that the birds we're

interested in depend upon as well, and that's a real cause for concern.

You're already having to take evasive action because of issues,

-aren't you?

-What we've done here at Titchwell is something called

managed realignment, where you look at the coast and its need to

breathe, its need to move, and what we've done here on the brackish

marsh is we've knocked a hole in the sea wall that we put in 40-odd years

ago, we're letting the sea come back in, the salt marsh vegetation is

building up and that's going to act as a natural sea defence to help

protect the freshwater habitats here for the foreseeable future.

Anything that helps maintain these amazing mudflats has got to be a

good thing, and I for one will be adding the Snettisham knots

to my list of autumn must-sees.

As a wildlife lover, I've had a fantastic time today.

I just hope it's here for generations to come.

It's hard to argue that preserving our visiting birds can be anything

other than a good thing.

But there's one creature that can't lay claim to universal popularity,

and that is the mole.

Now that autumn's here, moles are busy preparing for the cold

winter months ahead,

and that makes them far from welcome in gardens and fields.

But as Paul discovers the first worrying signs at his smallholding,

are we doing these little creatures a big injustice?

This is our heritage orchard, which I planted up

from graftings last year.

It's doing exceptionally well.

Our bees are here and they're doing well.

But there's another resident that's also getting on fine, and it's

something I didn't anticipate would arrive.

Moles. Look, there's a molehill there, there's one there.

There's several in fact, cutting a line right the way through the

orchard, going up towards the house.

The mounds of earth are the work of the busy but elusive European mole,

sometimes considered one of Britain's biggest nuisances.

As they prepare for winter ahead by burrowing more tunnels in their

pursuit of food, many gardeners go to great lengths trying to eradicate

them from their gardens.

With an estimated 31 million moles living in the UK,

this isn't a battle we're going to win any time soon.

So what are we going to do about it?

Because they spend most of their lives digging the tunnels they live

in, moles are one of our least known wild animals.

Some people believe that moles are actually good for your garden and we

should be celebrating them.

But I need to be convinced.

One man who knows a whole lot of mole and thinks we should be

welcoming the little diggers into our garden

is zoologist Dr Rob Atkinson.

Rob, I've brought you up here to our local village playing field,

and you can see here, look, all along this fence line

where the kids' playground is,

you see the work the moles are doing, you know.

And a lot of people say this is unsightly and moles are pests,

but you disagree, don't you? You love moles.

I do. I do love moles.

I think there's an awful lot to respect about moles.

They lead these solitary lives, they're underground, unseen,

but they just have so many good qualities that humans admire.

They're terrifically strong,

they look after their children, and they're very industrious.

These molehills are basically the deposit of earth

that he's got to get out of the ground from building his tunnel.

Pushing, with one hand, because they have to brace themselves

with the other hand, a sort of tube of earth.

They depend 100% on their tunnels.

That's how they collect their food.

And the deeper the mole is tunnelling,

then the wider dispersed the molehills are.

Is that one mole or is that two or three?

Looking at just how close the molehills are together

and what molehills are surrounding us,

I think this is likely to be one mole.

A single mole lives up to 5ft underground

in a spaghetti network of tunnels more than half a mile long.

This mole, this great engineer, this mini miner,

is really a tower of strength.

A tower of strength. A tower of strength.

The whole body is designed for digging.

The shape of the bones is different, the way the muscles attach.

-I mean, a mole can lift 20 times its own body weight.

-20 times?!

20 times. And a power lifter...

Olympic power lifters can only manage three times.

-Are they blind?

-No, they're not blind.

No, they have perfectly formed eyes. They're just very, very small.

It's like the head of a pin - about that sort of size.

And they do use their eyes. They're monitoring daylight...

-To see where cracks come through the tunnel.

-That's right, yeah.

The size of these shafts vary.

-Look, they're tiny there, there's a big one there...

-Yeah.

-..and that's a huge pile there.

-Yeah.

That's... That one is very, very interesting.

That could well be a fortress.

-Only one in 20 moles makes them...

-So this is quite rare?

..which is why we're incredibly lucky to see this.

A fortress is a large mound of soil

containing one or more nests and food stores.

It acts as a refuge in times of flooding,

and insulates the nest against low temperatures.

That takes 3,600 calories, believe it or not.

-Wow!

-You know, a mole's only...

-Wow!

-..10cm long, so this is an enormous investment.

-That's a lot to burn off, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

-What a big investment.

And all that tunnelling could actually benefit your garden.

This soil that they move up is beautifully aerated, isn't it?

This is soft. It's very dry.

Yeah. Yeah, that's all been scraped off by their long nails,

and all the big lumps have been broken up and then pushed up.

-It's full of nutrients.

-Bringing up nutrients from down below

and bringing it up to the surface, exactly.

So they're good for our gardens?

I believe they're good for our gardens.

They're certainly a very good indicator

of the health of the garden. If you've got moles in your garden,

you should celebrate it because you've got a healthy garden.

Rob's certainly dispelled some of the myths surrounding moles,

but if you're still worried about them,

there are some ingenious ways to gently discourage them

from wrecking your lawn.

Now, there are one or two theories out there,

which haven't been scientifically proven,

which you could try, and here's just a few.

Cat litter. Now, moles hate cats. Cats are predators.

Scatter some used cat litter down a mole hole.

That just might drive them away.

If you don't have a cat and you don't fancy doing that,

try burying a couple of glass bottles near the molehills

just with the neck showing,

and, hopefully, the wind will blow across the top

and create that haunting sound that you get.

And I'll try and give you an example.

BOTTLE PLAYS NOTE

It may work, it may not.

Or you could try one of these.

It's a solar-powered mole repeller, and every two or three minutes,

it emits this sort of irritating vibration.

You stake it in the lawn near where the molehills are,

and it's supposed to drive them away.

It didn't work for me but I know it does work for some people.

But at the end of the day, moles hate activity.

They hate noise. They hate music.

And there's one thing I haven't tried.

Obviously not a music fan.

Well, if that doesn't get rid of them, nothing will.

But to be perfectly honest with you, I don't care

because, after listening to Rob, I've fallen in love with moles

and it's about time we appreciate the virtues

of these industrious little mammals

that are working hard underneath our feet.

Love 'em!

The Lake District certainly has plenty of natural assets to boast about.

It's England's biggest national park.

It's got the country's longest lake, Windermere,

and the deepest, Wast Water.

And here at Whinlatter,

you'll find one of England's highest forests.

The woodland reaches altitudes of up to 1,500ft,

and when the weather's a bit better,

trails here and all over the Lake District,

attract hikers keen to blow away the cobwebs.

And if the autumn weather puts you in the mood

to get out and stretch your legs,

here's a rundown of some of the best walks across the country.

With over 11,000 miles of coastline,

there are coastal walks aplenty around the British Isles.

Get your feet wet on the south-west coast of Scotland.

The four-and-a-half-mile walk between Rockcliffe and Sandyhills

has great views across the Solway Firth,

which is the UK's third-largest estuary.

Autumn sees the return of thousands of migrating birds

and the twitchers that follow them.

Inland, a stroll through Epping Forest in Essex

is literally a walk through time.

For decades, if not centuries,

walkers have carved their names on the trees,

and those initials grow larger and taller as the trees mature.

And as the leaves are falling from beech and oak,

underfoot a forest of fungi is bursting into life.

Experienced foragers can grab tonight's dinner.

Novices should walk on by.

Instead of a hike, take a stroll

through the classic landscaped gardens of Stourhead,

where the maples and acers are burning amber and red.

But wherever you decide to walk,

we can guarantee autumn will be putting on a show.

Earlier, Keeley discovered how this year's balmy weather

has been a boon for the dairy industry.

But if autumn continues to get warmer and start later,

can it be good for everything in our countryside?

Keeley now discovers that where there are climate-change winners,

there are also climate-change losers.

For centuries, the seasons have marked

the passage of time through the year,

each one with their own distinctive signature.

And autumn, with its beautiful, changing colours,

and crisp, atmospheric mornings, is one of my favourites.

But a shift to warmer, wetter weather

may mean that some of the familiar sights and sounds

of the season could be under threat.

I'm meeting Tim Benton, who advises the government

on food security and farming, to find out more.

So, Tim, tell me how autumn is changing.

Well, as the climate changes,

the seasons are typically getting longer.

So autumn is taking place later in the year than it used to,

and one of the things that's quite interesting

is the way that the weather is changing.

We are potentially getting more stormier,

more extreme rainfall in the late autumn,

so there are lots of things going on.

You mentioned about it getting warmer.

Are we able to grow anything in the UK

-that perhaps we couldn't have done 50 years ago?

-Yes.

There are a lot of things that we used to think of as exotics,

like peaches and apricots, and even melons and figs.

And potential, in the long run, for things like avocado and quinoa.

A future filled with exotic British fruit

may not sound too bad, but don't forget -

our autumns aren't just getting warmer.

They're also getting wetter.

If we're getting more rainfall,

is that going to be good or bad for our crops?

A lot of it depends on the way that the rain falls.

So although on average we are projected to get drier,

on average, when the rain falls, it is going to fall harder.

And so we'll have periods where the rainfall is very intense.

It'll wash soils away, floods, and all the rest of that.

If it's getting warmer and wetter,

are pests going to be more prevalent?

Yeah, absolutely. So the archetypal example

is something like an aphid

that is not going to get killed off so much during the winter.

It's going to be emerging earlier in the spring.

And aphids just breed repeatedly and repeatedly.

And by 2050, there are some projections that are saying

that an aphid - at the moment,

a pest that can get through ten generations -

-will be able to get through 20 generations...

-Right.

..and the population will go out of control.

Aphids can wreak havoc on crops like maize,

and increased numbers of bugs will almost inevitably mean

a rise in the use of pesticides.

There's clearly potential for some pretty startling changes

to our countryside.

So we might have to adapt what we grow

and how we grow it in the future.

But what about some of our wildlife that might be less adaptable?

Dormice have long been the stuff of fairy-tale autumns,

but the number of hazel dormice are in rapid decline,

and they're now one of our most endangered native species.

To get a sense of the challenge they face,

I'm meeting Stuart Edmunds from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust.

What exactly are you doing today, then?

So, today we're at Hope Valley Nature Reserve

doing a dormouse nest-box check.

OK. And what does that entail, then? What have we got to do?

So, we've got 50 dormice boxes across this site,

and we basically check them for evidence of dormouse use

or, hopefully, presence of dormice.

-OK. So we might see some dormice this morning?

-Fingers crossed.

Dormice are not only nocturnal, they're also notoriously shy,

so I just hope we get lucky today.

If you hold that we can lift the lid.

-So this is actually a woodmouse nest.

-Ah.

So, I know it's a woodmouse nest cos it's all brown leaves.

If it was a dormouse nest,

there'd be lots of nice, fresh, green leaves on top.

-So wildlife, but not the wildlife we're looking for.

-No.

So not a great start, but even at the best of times,

population density among dormice is low,

and estimates put the number

currently living in this 45-acre wood

at between 20 and 30.

Yeah, not a dormouse, I'm afraid.

The words needle and haystack spring to mind.

-OK, onto the next.

-This way?

-So, lots of woodlice.

-But no dormice.

-No dormice.

The search continues.

But just when it looks like we're in for a dormouse no-show,

there's finally some hope.

OK. So, we're pretty sure we've got...

Yeah, we're quietly confident.

To make sure that no napping dormouse makes a break for freedom,

we put the contents of the box into a plastic bag,

and finally our search is over.

-There you go.

-Oh, hello, little fella.

You can see there's actually a dormouse in there.

How old do you think he is?

So, this would be from... Probably from this summer.

-Oh, really?

-So, it's just a few months old.

What are you looking for, then?

So what we're looking for is how much weight they've put on.

This, I would say, is probably about 25g,

so it's still quite a bit underweight.

What would you want it to be, really?

We'd want it to put another 10g on or so,

just to get nice and fat for the winter.

So this little guy has got a fight on his hands

to get hefty enough to hibernate,

and he's not the only one struggling.

Across the country, dormouse numbers are taking a nosedive.

So, how much has their population declined?

The dormice population has plummeted by about 70%,

so it's a huge amount.

And based on that, they could easily disappear completely

from the English countryside, which would be devastating.

-What's the biggest reason for that?

-There's a few reasons,

but one of the big reasons, really, is the loss of their habitat.

So where hedgerows have been removed

across fields and things like that, that's all dormouse habitat.

But then the climate changing,

it obviously has quite a big impact on them as well.

It affects their foraging behaviour,

their ability to put on weight for the winter.

And they're so slow to breed and they live in really low density,

so just one bad year of really harsh weather

or just not enough food around can really hit the population.

So with later autumns and warmer winters,

are their hibernation habits changing?

So what is likely to happen is if we've got a warm autumn -

and, I mean, for the last few years, it's actually been quite warm

at the start of winter, as well -

the dormice go into hibernation a bit later than they normally would

and because of that, they're hanging around

when there's not as much food around,

and of course then they're going to go into hibernation completely underweight

and they're probably not going to survive the winter.

If autumn continues to become later and winter warmer,

-could that potentially wipe out the dormice?

-Potentially, yes.

They're so habituated to having that winter period of sleep

that the later they leave it, the less chance they've got

of finding food and actually surviving the hibernation.

It would be a real tragedy

if warmer autumns spelled the end for our native dormouse.

Of course, the British climate has undergone change in centuries past

and our wildlife and landscape have managed to adapt to it.

But what's different this time

is the rate at which our climate is warming,

and there's no doubt there'll be crops, species and ecosystems

that simply struggle to keep up.

And while there will be winners that thrive,

there'll be also losers that could potentially be wiped out completely.

It's worrying stuff, but with raised awareness

and thoughtful stewardship of our landscape,

perhaps we can save our countryside

from the worst effects of our warming climate.

This is, of course, the season of plenty,

and it's wonderful to see our trees and hedgerows

bursting with abundance at this time of year.

But in one corner of England it's not all about apples,

hazelnuts and blackberries.

They take particular pride in gathering a local speciality,

and I went along to get a flavour of the harvest.

I'm in Kent, the Garden of England,

with its bountiful landscape of hop fields and orchards.

I'm not here today for the fruit.

Instead I'm going to be discovering about a particular Kentish delicacy

that's also ripe for picking.

One field where it grows is here in the village of St Mary's Platt.

And this is what I'm here for, the Kentish cobnut -

the only nut in the world that can be eaten straight from the tree.

The owner of this cobnut field is Alexander Hunt.

He's also chairman of the Kentish Cobnut Association.

Alexander, I've heard of Kentish cobnuts,

but I don't really know what they are.

I mean, it's not a thing you see in shops every day, is it?

Well, they're a cultivated hazelnut.

They are a lovely, fresh dessert nut,

full of moisture and succulence at this time of the year.

And here we have hazelnut trees, and here we've got cobnuts.

Let's have a look at the difference.

These are the wild hazels in the hedge here.

-Can you see that's a much smaller nut there?

-Oh, yeah.

Slightly rounder with a slightly serrated husk.

-And what about a cobnut?

-Behind me here

is one of our Kent cobnut trees.

This was planted in about 1900

and you can see from the little cluster there...

-Oh, much bigger, isn't it?

-..it's a much larger,

-bigger, bolder nut.

-Yeah.

-What do they taste like?

-Well, let me crack one for you, John.

Thank you. Ooh, they are soft, aren't they?

They are very, very fresh.

They're the finest nuts you can buy in the country.

And they do have a very strong taste as well.

-They do.

-A sweet, strong taste.

-In the middle of September,

the husk begins to go a little bit more mellow,

golden and light brown,

and that's when they really gain their true Kentish cobnut flavour.

-Well, I'm converted to cobnuts now.

-I'm really pleased to hear it!

Hugely popular in Victorian times,

cobnuts lost some of their appeal during the last century,

but now a group of dedicated enthusiasts

is encouraging us to fall in love with them again.

The orchards where the cobnuts grow are known as plats.

It's an old Kentish word for flat, cultivated land.

And the people who pick the nuts call themselves -

guess what - nutters!

After a hard day's picking out in the fields,

what could be better than a cobnut feast for us nutters?

Let's tuck in, everybody, shall we? Come on, help yourselves.

Local chef Matthew Kearsey-Lawson

is part of the culinary cobnut renaissance.

What have you laid on for us, Matthew?

Well, this is a harvest salad.

We've got plums in there - Victoria plums - which are local.

We've got Discovery apples, and, of course,

the Kentish green cobnut sprinkled on top.

That's a Victoria plum with a cobnut and brioche crumble on there,

and then this is traditional hop-pickers' cake there.

-Traditional cake?

-Yes, yeah.

This is a pork and apple pie with green Kentish cobnuts in it.

-Now...

-So this is all part, then, of the revival of cobnuts?

It is, yes. All these recipes have actually come from

an old Kentish recipe book as well.

I must admit, my mother has given me good training, John.

Everything's either topped up with a bit of brandy or a bit of port.

-And some cobnuts.

-And some cobnuts. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Absolutely delicious.

Now, the change from the bright days of autumn

to cooler temperatures and darker autumn evenings

can have a massive impact on our mood,

and experts estimate that one in 15 of us

now suffers from symptoms of SAD.

That's seasonal affective disorder,

and those symptoms include insomnia, depression and anxiety.

We may, though, be able to eat our way out of the autumn doldrums,

but not in quite the way you might think,

as Margherita discovered.

It's starting to get cold and dark outside,

so what better way to beat the blues than, well,

with a little treat or two?

But if we really want to eat ourselves happier,

is it time to start ditching the comfort food?

I haven't finished!

Someone who definitely thinks so is dietician Kaitlin Colucci.

Kaitlin, autumn's on the way, winter's coming up.

What can we do nutritionally

to help us sort of beat those autumnal blues?

Well, first of all we're actually going to start talking about water.

You can become dehydrated in the winter months

just as much as you can in warmer weather.

And dehydration really can zap your energy levels.

You should ideally be trying to reach about six to eight

200ml glasses a day.

What else should we be adding into our diets

to make sure we're healthy?

So, now I've got some dark green leafy vegetables.

So, broccoli, and I've got a lovely bowl...

-Ooh!

-Ho-ho!

-That's a few sprouts!

-..of spinach and Brussels sprouts.

Dark green leafy vegetables are packed full of B vitamins,

and these help us release the energy from our food.

Broccoli in particular is high in vitamin C and folate,

and folate helps the body to make healthy red blood cells,

again, reducing tiredness and irritability.

Folate, or folic acid, is a type of vitamin D,

and 100g of broccoli contains nearly half

of your recommended daily allowance of it.

But if broccoli is not your bag,

there's something sweeter on the mood booster menu.

Blueberries, they are very rich in vitamin C,

which can really help to boost the immune system

and also aid the absorption of iron, reducing feelings of tiredness.

100g of blueberries contain about a quarter

of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin C,

so they really do deserve that superfood title.

But it's not just fruit and veg that can boost your mood.

Omega-3 fatty acids are commonly found in oily fish,

such as salmon, mackerel and sardines.

Omega-3s are crucial for nerve and brain development,

and without it, we may be susceptible to lower moods.

If you're not keen on fish,

then nuts and seeds are another great source

of mood-boosting omega-3s.

Green veg, oily fish, berries and nuts

are amongst the usual suspects in our health-food line-up,

but another slightly unexpected dish could help to lift the autumn blues.

-Crikey!

-SHE LAUGHS

Well, if this is good for me

this is good news, because that smells delicious.

Turkey contains the essential amino acid tryptophan.

Tryptophan is used in the body to help make serotonin,

and serotonin is known as that mood-boosting neurotransmitter.

Turkey's also high in vitamin B6 and selenium,

both of which can help beat tiredness and low moods.

So at this time of year, when we're missing the sunshine,

and for some people who are affected by seasonal affective disorder,

this could be a really good ingredient in their diet?

Absolutely.

Turkey is also lower in calories

than nearly every other meat...

Beautiful. Oh, my goodness, that looks good.

..so perhaps we should consider eating more

of this seasonal bird all year round.

That was delicious!

Not just for Christmas.

And with a festive season on the horizon,

turkeys are now being fattened up,

and there's one particular farmer who believes that happier birds

could produce tastier meat.

-Tom, great to see you.

-Great to meet you.

Countryfile last met second-generation turkey farmer

Tom Copas to find out how he was training his birds

to cope with firework night.

Calm down.

And now he's trying out some even more inventive techniques

to keep his feathery flock flying high.

-They can be quite noisy, I'm noticing.

-Yeah, they can be.

They get pretty chatty. They're always keen for a chat.

HE GOBBLES LIKE A TURKEY, TURKEYS RESPOND

I'm catching up with him at his turkey farm

near Maidenhead in Berkshire.

-You believe happier animals make for better eating.

-Absolutely.

You know, if you've got happy animals,

they're going to eat better, they're going to drink better, they'll have more meat on them,

and they're going to taste better as a result.

Tom's turkeys are protected 24/7 by nine alpaca,

who ward off predators like foxes.

Alpacas are very territorial, so they are our night guards.

But his latest idea is to introduce some free-range entertainment

to get his roosters rocking.

Tom, what is going on here?

Oh, right. So, erm, I came up with the idea -

will turkeys respond to different musical instruments?

So we actually ended up getting started with a xylophone,

then got quite a range of different instruments,

-just to see...

-You've got an orchestra in there!

Yeah, there's different practice centres all over the range.

And what do you think they get out of this?

I think it's just something different. It's another thing.

It's spurring their curiosity and they're thinking, "Ah, what's that?

"I can have a peck at it. That's different."

-Have they got a band together yet?

-There isn't any formal one,

but there's definitely a bit of practice going on. You never know.

It might seem like a bit of fun,

but it's been proven that environmental enrichment like this

helps reduce stress in poultry.

Right, gang, Adele or Ed Sheeran?

Maybe some Beethoven?

And that's all for today,

but please join us again tomorrow for the last of our Autumn Diaries,

when Paul will be opening his doors to vulnerable wildlife...

Oh, that's prickly! That is sharp!

..Greg McKenzie will discover how to keep pets calm

during the season's noisiest night...

They can actually teach their dogs to associate the sound of fireworks

with something really positive.

And I'll be finding out how one community

is fighting back against flooding.

And let's hope the weather is a little bit better tomorrow.

Until then, bye-bye.