After a slow cold start, grass growth in the field sped up hugely in the warmer days (and rains) of late May. The shiny, bright yellows of Lesser Celandine in April and May were taken over by the yellows of Bulbous Buttercup, itself then overtaken by the taller, airier Meadow Buttercup. The meadow grasses soon outpaced the buttercups and the painted yellow of the field gave way to soft, waving greens, russets and silvers in the main meadow. Up in the top field, a painter's palette of reds, pinks, yellows and greens as the Sorrel had a field day amongst the young sapling trees. This area is no longer grazed or mown and it's fascinating seeing how the vegetation cover changes after such a short time under different management. There is more thatch here now and several new anthills are bubbling up. The Lesser Stitchwort, such a delicate flower, seems to thrive in the rougher grasses, forming mini constellations, acting out its lovely Latin name, Stellaria graminea.
Harvest Time
The hay in the main meadow was cut on 19th July by our farmer neighbour and baled today. We decided to take full advantage of the fantastically hot haymaking weather this week. I always feels rather sad to see some of the flowers in the windrows - but we will try and cut later next year since it is not a bad idea to vary the mowing dates over time. It looks like a better crop of hay in terms of quantity than last year.
In the bottom meadow, where we sowed Yellow Rattle last autumn, these had germinated fantastically well. I was a bit concerned they had done so well we'd have too many next year, so we spent a few hours collecting some seed from them before they were cut. We may sow this seed further up in the main meadow later this summer.
A little bit of Moon-Magic
New plants have appeared in the field this year, including some small pockets of bluebells (a surprise), a very pretty tiny-flowered Deep Cut Cranesbill, Creeping St John's Wort on the thin soiled tumps, Musk Mallow, Common Valerian - and a rather exciting find in the main field - a single specimen of Moonwort, a quite scarce and strange fern of the Adders Tongue family, which is indicative of old pasture. It's very small and easily overlooked (I must have been wearing my better glasses). I hope there is more than one but try as we might, we didn't find any others. In folklore, Moonwort was a plant associated with the moon and with the element of metal - horses standing on Moonwort could lose their metal shoes and the plant could be used to open metal locks; a plant of necromancers and alchemists that had to be picked by the light of the moon for full effect - I hope we might see more of these in future.
Yellow Meadow Ants: the Unseen Engineers
Part of the field is taken up with south facing, steep sided 'tumps' covered in many small anthills, made by the amazing and far too overlooked Yellow Meadow Ant, Lasus Flavius. This is the most florally interesting part of the field and one which is the trickiest to manage properly due to the fact it cannot be mown when we do the hay cut. Yellow Meadow Ants create habitat for other creatures and plants with their largely underground but very impressive engineering feats, hauling up tiny particles of sandy soil to the surface, creating soil mounds and bare ground for new seeds. They even affect the pH of the immediately surrounding soil and make it slightly more alkaline - it is thought this is down to the aphids they 'farm' and the honeydew these tiny farmed insects produce which is phosphate ion-rich.
According to Dr Tim King (a Yellow Meadow Ant specialist) around 70,000 ants live underground within the vicinity of a single anthill, along with around 800 aphids, 2000 springtails and a host of mites (some of which live on the ants' backs and pinch the honeydew the collect!! If you would like to know more about these amazing largely unseen engineering creatures, tune in to the replay of Dr King's "Seething Soils" presentation for the Field Studies Council. Much recommended!
Wetland update
It is now a year since we de-culverted the underground drain and created an open channel of water with associated ditches and pools as part of a Shropshire Hills AONB and Environment Agency project.
Last year at this time the area looked quite devastated and bleak, but a year later it has of course bounced back completely and with renewed vigour. So much so that the wild Watercress has stomped its way up the new channel and has grown so thick and bulky it is actually slowing the water flow and will require some management. The delicate Marsh Bedstraw has really multiplied and is now in full flower, erupting in mini white-speckled volcanoes in places. Lesser Spearwort (Buttercup family) now lines the muddy banks of the water channel and has been flowering cheerfully for weeks. The various Willowherbs are also growing tall and graceful; I always think they are such a lovely (and overlooked) flower with their glaucous stems and tiny pink flowers.
The good news is there is much less Nettle now growing amid the rushes (obviously the wetter ground doesn't suit them). I was pleased so see the Ragged Robin we planted came into flower recently too and hopefully that will now start to spread. Meadow Sweet, Tufted Vetch and Common Valerian are all pushing in from the hedgerow into the field, now sheep no longer strip them out.
The small ponds and ditches in the wetland have successfully raised froglets this spring and the full and natural vegetation that surrounds them now provides great shelter and cover for them as they explore their new territory. The ponds on site generally have also been the venue for much dragon and damselfly activity. We have had a lot of Azure Blues and Large Reds (damselflies), a pair of the thoroughly enchanting Beautiful Demoiselles (my absolute favourite of any flying thing) which prefer running to still water - and the Broad Bodied Chasers who, true to textbook character, were the first to colonise our new large (garden) pond. The males are extremely territorial and constantly patrol their patch of water, resting regularly on prominent bits of vegetation. They will fend off any other males that dare to approach. They are tricky to photograph since they seem to sense the bulk of a huge human being nearby, and avoid you. But I did manage to get one photograph I was pleased with.
The dry banks to the North of the wetland channel are now flowering with Ladys Bedstraw, Harebell, Yarrow and Birds Foot Trefoil. Greater Trefoil is making its way in at one end now too. Again this is now an area that is excluded from livestock (due to the wetland project) so we will have to find a way of managing the grassland here so it retains its flowers and delicate grasses. This will no doubt mean manual removal! We may have to run a scything or sickle-ing party or two; if you are interested, do let me know!
The wetland trees that were planted in December are coming on well. Some, amongst the rushes need a bit more light so we have been clearing vegetation around these and doing some weeding to encourage the whips along. There have been very few tree losses which is really pleasing.
An Insect Survey
In early July we hosted a visit from the Joy of Nature group based in Telford. They are invertebrate enthusiasts and recorders who arrived with big white swoop nets and specially made 'hoovers' as well as an array of trays and other accoutrements. We had a wonderfully hot day exploring the field and finding out what insects live here - from grasshoppers, to leafhoppers, weevils, moths, butterflies, flies, hoverflies, beetles, spiders and bugs - and more! There was also a geologist and lichen experts in their midst so some time was spent looking closely at stone walls and fence posts and wondering about the evolution of our tumps!
The Puss Moth larvae chomping on the Aspen saplings were rather impressive and despite their size, easy to overlook thanks to amazing camouflage (update as of today, they've now stripped one Aspen sapling of all leaves and have left the crime scene. Perhaps they've gone off to pupate?). We didn't find anything rare or unusual but they seemed pleased with the grasshopper count and recorded three types of Skipper butterfly - Small, Large and Essex! Thank you to the group for coming down and providing such a brilliant and informative day. I will upload the insect list to this website soon. Please come back soon!
A blog post by the Group about their visit to us and with some really good close up insect photos is here.
Hay Meadow poster
Finally, I designed and illustrated a poster about a year in the life of a traditional hay meadow for the Marches Meadow Group which will be launched at the Hay Meadow Festival in Craven Arms on 24th July 2021. Thanks to Rob Rowe for his input, feedback and encouragement!
The group now has printed copies to sell (either by mail order or by collection). If you are interested in buying one please contact the Marches Meadow Group.
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