Boddington Meadow
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A joy to visit, this rare fragment of species-rich meadow is full of wild flowers and butterflies |
This meadow has never been ploughed and as a result retains much of its original wildlife. It is managed in a traditional way to encourage many less common species of plants, such as great burnet, pepper saxifrage and pignut.
In July, betony provides an impressive display of colour, while devil’s-bit scabious exhibits its purple-blue flowers throughout the whole summer. Sweet vernal-grass, crested dog’s-tail and meadow foxtail are just some of the grass species found in the meadow.
The varied flora attracts a wide-range of butterflies and insects. The peacock, orange-tip, small tortoiseshell, meadow brown and ringlet are the most frequently recorded butterflies. The cardinal beetle is just one of over 48 species of beetle known to live on this site. Dog rose and dogwood provide an ideal habitat for many birds such as finches, warblers, blackcaps and green woodpeckers.
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Plants: Lesser celandine, cowslip Insects: Orange-tip butterfly Amphibians: Common frog Reptiles: Grass snake Birds: Finches, warblers |
Plants: Great burnet, black knapweed, devil’s-bit scabious, betony, meadow sweet Insects: Butterflies Amphibians: Common frog Reptiles: Grass snake Birds: Green woodpecker, finches and warblers |
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