Orchid found on Cattle Meadow

A Pyramidal Orchid has been found this month on one of our cattle meadows. See picture.

One swallow doesn't make a summer, as they say, but this could be an early sign that our Cattle project involving the grazing each summer of several Dexter cows, by rotation on three designated meadows, is starting to bear fruit. The main purpose of having the cattle on those meadows is to improve them as a habitat for wild flowers. It will be a further 2-3 years before we would expect to see significant results from that initiative but the discovery of this orchid, which has not been noted on the reserve in recent times, is an early encouraging sign.

We shall continue to monitor.