Rant alert

Shortly before sunset today, I wandered over to a favorite park to clear my head after a couple of hours spent in shopping mall hell (but one must find the right character jammies for a grandchild--there are standards to uphold). Unfortunately, my head is not what was cleared. The field between the quarry trail and the highway had been mowed.

In September, the same field looked like this.

Meadow maintenance of course involves mowing or burning to keep the area from reverting to the Great Eastern Forest it probably was at one time, but not in November.  All of those September plants, if they hadn't been mowed, would have been loaded with seeds in November. Songbirds and small rodents depend on seeds to get them through the winter. Hawks, owls, and other predators depend on a reliable supply of songbirds and rodents to get them through the winter. A naked field contains little or no food.

I know that fall and winter fields look messy and sometimes depressingly tatty, but could we not wait until the seed supply is exhausted before cutting the plants down?