Heath Spotted-Orchid
Not very long ago most farms would have had a hay meadow. These were herb-rich grasslands which might never have seen a plough, and where a rich mixture of grasses and other wild plants could survive for many generations. Flowers had time to bloom and set their seed, and at hay-making time the seed got spread around for next year’s crop. Yellow-rattle, or Hay-rattle, is a common plant of old meadows which gets its name from its seed-pods – when the seeds could be heard rattling inside, the hay was ready for cutting. Modern silage systems are often based on just a few heavily fertilised grass species, and can be cut two or three times in the year. From a wildlife point of view, they’re little better than green deserts.
But here in Donegal the old ways haven’t entirely disappeared. In among the hills and glens of the north-west, and out along the coast, there are still many little patchwork fields with a huge variety of floral mixtures. One can be flushed yellow with Hay-rattle and Lady’s Bedstraw, and the next one pink with Ragged Robin. It all depends on the timing of grazing and cutting, and on the dampness and type of soil.
Classic meadow flowers which are good indicators of old grassland would include Bird’s-foot-trefoil, Tufted Vetch, Knapweed and Ox-eye Daisy. In the best areas you can still find a scattering of orchid species, especially Heath and Common Spotted-orchids. And as well as the wild flowers you can also find a lovely variety of wild grasses – the feathery heads of the Fescues and Meadow Grasses and more solid and symmetrical ones such as Timothy, Crested Dog’s-tail and the Rye grasses. Sweet Vernal Grass produces that classic summery smell of new-mown hay. Grasses spread their pollen on the wind, so they never needed to develop showy flowers to attract insects. What look like greenish seed-heads are actually their flowers in full bloom. The one which can sometimes paint a whole meadow in pastel shades is Yorkshire Fog, whose soft succulent heads develop through pale green, purple and pink to creamy white.
As hay meadows fade away over much of the countryside, it’s important to try to preserve and re-create this type of habitat in other ways. Roadside verges and the wide banks of road widening schemes, town parks and churchyards, gardens large and small – all of these can play their part in helping to conserve the wild grassland plants. Parts of the lawn can be cut less frequently, and some areas of the garden left for longer grass, where wildflowers can find a home. These need to be cut only once a year, late on in the summer when the plants have run to seed – a feast for Tits and Goldfinches.
The plants in a meadow are only half of the story. Any healthy natural grassland will be buzzing with all sorts of insect life and fluttering with butterflies. Each butterfly species has its particular larval foodplants where it lays its eggs, and which become food for the caterpillars. One of the first out in spring is the Orange-tip which lays its eggs only on Cuckoo-flower. Several of the Brown butterflies – Meadow brown, Small Heath and Ringlet – use various grasses. Green-veined Whites breed on wild crucifer plants, such as Charlock, and in a good year they can cover a whole meadow with flickering white. In the best meadows it’s worth keeping an eye out for the bright orange glint of the Small Copper. Many insects have been suffering from habitat loss, and even a small patch of natural grassland can be a vital nature reserve for Bumblebees, Beetles, Grasshoppers, Hoverflies and many others.
The drastic drop in Corncrake numbers since the 1950s, largely due to changes in farming practice, has meant that these classic meadow birds have been reduced to just a few small pockets. Most older people can remember the time when the “Crex crex” call could be heard through the night on nearly every farm. Huge efforts are still being made to save them, with grants to encourage habitat creation and Corncrake-friendly cutting regimes, but numbers remain very low. In 2010, just 133 breeding males were recorded in Ireland, 91 of those on the fringes of Donegal. So far this year the numbers are shaping up to be similar, and the Donegal islands hold the most corncrake-friendly areas in the country. Your best chance of hearing the famous night-time call is on Tory, Inishbofin, Inishmeane or Aranmore.
Four to Find this Month:Seven-spot Ladybird: the classic red Ladybird with black spots. A Ladybird can lay up to 200 eggs at a time and after a week these hatch into hungry grubs, each one of which can eat 50 greenfly per day. Definitely the gardener’s friend! |
