Other things are celebrated today, but I'd like to spend today on my one of my lockdown heroes, the local meadows. We go to a few, but Iffley Meadows is the constant companion. Here are some of the highlights from the Meadow and its bounding areas (Tow Path, Bypass, A Road, River) from Lockdown 2020:
The willows are falling down. They're designed to do this; it's a feature, not a bug. This one in a backwater by Iffley Weir has been in the river for a while now. We've had some storms!
There's always a flower of the moment in Iffley Meadow. At the moment it's Knapweed. In among the standard purples I found a colour sport, with a little halo of white petals. There were a few of these dotted around, so clearly the bees don't mind.
Fasciated thistles are having a bit of a moment this summer. Maybe it's the uneven rain, but clubbed, split and freaky otherwise freaky blooms are having a year this year. I love this one, it looks like Poison Ivy spitting a curse at Batman.
Pyramidal Orchids don't grow in the Nature reserve itself, but off to one side, where Abingdon Road meets the Bypass, near Redbridge Park and Ride they grow plentifully in the verges.
The meadow walks got more worn in as the lockdown went on. There's a second path sprung up now, 2m apart from the first; a social distancing path. We tried (and failed) to find the cuckoo, but spotted Reed warblers and Grasshopper Warblers, and a Treecreeper, creeping around a tree. We've seen fledglings and swallows, mayflies and muntjac. Happy National Meadow Day, Iffley Meadows.
The willows are falling down. They're designed to do this; it's a feature, not a bug. This one in a backwater by Iffley Weir has been in the river for a while now. We've had some storms!
There's always a flower of the moment in Iffley Meadow. At the moment it's Knapweed. In among the standard purples I found a colour sport, with a little halo of white petals. There were a few of these dotted around, so clearly the bees don't mind.
Fasciated thistles are having a bit of a moment this summer. Maybe it's the uneven rain, but clubbed, split and freaky otherwise freaky blooms are having a year this year. I love this one, it looks like Poison Ivy spitting a curse at Batman.
Pyramidal Orchids don't grow in the Nature reserve itself, but off to one side, where Abingdon Road meets the Bypass, near Redbridge Park and Ride they grow plentifully in the verges.
The meadow walks got more worn in as the lockdown went on. There's a second path sprung up now, 2m apart from the first; a social distancing path. We tried (and failed) to find the cuckoo, but spotted Reed warblers and Grasshopper Warblers, and a Treecreeper, creeping around a tree. We've seen fledglings and swallows, mayflies and muntjac. Happy National Meadow Day, Iffley Meadows.
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