Category: Fritillary Watch

The fritillaries have finished flowering for this year. The hay crop will soon grow and will be full of wild flowers. Conditions on the meadow are now quite wet and muddy after the recent rain. River levels have also risen in recent days.

We are running a Practical Scything and Meadow Management Course on Saturday 10th July 2021. The course will be on North Meadow and will be run by Richard Brown, Chairman of the Scything Association of Britain and Ireland.

This is a  unique opportunity to learn to scythe on one of the UK’s best lowland hay meadows and is suitable for anyone wishing to keep their garden or wildflower area in check through to those managing a larger area of meadow for conservation. 

Learn how to use, sharpen and maintain a scythe.  Find out about timing the hay cut and making hay.  There will be plenty of mowing practice to develop your technique under instruction. 

If you are interested in this course we have a few places left and you can find out more here.

Update from Natural England

The fritillaries are now just passing their peak, but there are still plenty to see on all marked routes – the further you walk up the meadow the more you will see without leaving the path.

Please continue to stick to paths marked with posts – whilst you may think you are being careful there are far more non-flowering individuals which look like grass that are easily trampled. Dogs also trample, and disturb ground nesting birds so please keep them on a short lead.

TOP TIP – bring binoculars, this will enable you to see the true extent of the flowers further out in the meadow.

We have placed a whiteboard at the entrance to the meadow giving up to date information on the best areas to see flowers.

Enjoy your visit!!

Charlotte Taggart
Natural England Reserve Manager
Email: charlotte.targett@naturalengland.org.uk Continue reading “The Fritillaries are Just Past Peak Flowering”

Update from Natural England

We are now approaching the peak of the flowering season – the further you walk up the meadow the more fritillaries you will see without leaving the path. Continue reading “The Fritillaries Are Approaching Peak Flowering”

Over the next 2 weeks you may see Natural England and the Floodplain Meadows Partnership carrying out research on North Meadow, recording the  Snakes Head Fritillary Fritillaria meleagris. North Meadow is home to 80% of  the UK population of this nationally scarce plant.

This involves counting fritillary plants, both those in flower and vegetative plants which have between one and seven leaves. Although flowering fritillaries are easy to see, the vegetative plants can just look like blades of grass and greatly outnumber the flowering plants. Normally this work is carried out by around 40 volunteer recorders. Covid restrictions have reduced the number of recorders on site this year.

The fritillary plants are recorded in 320 1m by 1m quadrats which are positioned in the same location each year using a GPS accurate to 2cm. The position of the quadrats is shown on the map above.

This research is followed by a full botanical survey later in the year. The Floodplain Meadow Partnership have been carrying out research on North Meadow for over 20 years. You can find out more about their work from the latest Spring Newsletter .

The fritillaries are now flowering although they are still not at their peak as they have been held back by the cool weather.

Cricklade Bloomers are not able to run the Fritillary Tea Rooms this year but they will be selling cakes, plants and books in the courtyard next to the Thames Hall during the weekends on 17/18 April and 24/25 April.  They will be there from 11.00am to 4.00pm. Continue reading “The Fritillaries Are Now Flowering”

Update from Natural England

Fritillaries are just starting to flower, we still estimate the main display to be around the 19th April.

The best area to see flowering fritillaries at the moment is the orange route. Continue reading “The Fritillaries Are Now Starting To Flower”

Update from Natural England

The Snakes Head Fritillaries are not in flower yet, so please continue to help protect North Meadow by keeping off until further notice. The ground conditions are still wet and heavy footfall causes ground compaction which damages this delicate habitat. Continue reading “Still Too Early To See The Snakes Head Fritillaries”

The winter flooding has started to recede but the site is still extremely muddy and slippery under foot. Natural England are asking people to stay off the site for now whilst the remainder of the water dries up.

The first Snake’s Head Fritillary shoots were spotted at the beginning of March. We are hoping they will have a good year this year and put on their stunning display in April. Continue reading “Winter Flooding Recedes”

Please help to protect North Meadow by not visiting until further notice. Natural England have posted the notice below at all entrances to North Meadow.

Continue reading “Protect North Meadow”

The start of the fritillary season is rapidly approaching and North Meadow is still flooded. The picture above, taken this morning, shows the water level is very high, as high as it has been all winter. Continue reading “Fritillary Season on North Meadow”