The Fritillaries have finished flowering for this year and the meadow has turned lush and green. The Meadowsweet and Great Burnet are growing fast now and the haze of Cuckoo Flowers visible last week has disappeared.
The meadow is full of birds over 100 species have been recorded on the meadow . This morning I heard or saw Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue tit, Cetti’s warbler, Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Magpie, Marsh Harrier, Reed warbler, Sedge Warbler, Skylark, Wren, Yellow Legged Gull in less than an hour whilst setting up some invertebrate monitoring.
Very noticeable this week are Common Blue Damselflies which have just appeared in large numbers.
The meadow buttercups are just starting to flower and the meadow may soon turn yellow as more come into flower.
When you visit please stay on the marked paths and keep your dog on a short lead to avoid damaging this internationally important wildlife site and disturbing the ground nesting birds.
Many are unaware, but the law says that you must keep your dog on a lead no longer than 2 metres between 1st March and 31st July, when on any open access land to protect ground-nesting birds.
Enjoy your visit and look out for the audio trail posts. If you want to find out more about the meadow you can use your mobile phone to click on the QR codes to listen a meadow guide talking about the meadow flora, fauna, history and farming. There is a map of the trail in the main meadow entrance.