The Hay Meadow

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 The next section of habitat we have is the hay meadow.


Above is a summer time photo of the wildflower meadow. This is a species rich habitat that has been "unimproved" in living memory - no fertiliser or chemicals. The result is a meadow rich in wildflowers. 93% of wildflower meadows have been lost in the last 60 years and it is a privilege to be the custodians of a remaining fragment. The meadow is fringed by trees (mostly  mature ash but with a few wych elm and one splendid mature beech and some sycamore.  The western edge abuts an abandoned railway line which acts as a useful wildlife corridor and also forms the boundary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (we are just outside the Park). The meadow has a resident population of rabbit, mole etc. When the grass is long the meadow is used by the roe deer to hide their young during the daytime hours. The top of this field is the highest part of our land reaching an altitude of about 200m above sea level about 30m higher than the lowest part of our land where the sike is. I posted a fuller discussion of the meadow on 31st May when it was in its glory if you would like to check the archive.

Diary
There have been meteorological records taken in Britain for well over 100 years. Coverage has been patchy with records in Armagh in Northern Ireland going back as far as 1790's. On New Years Day this week we recorded the warmest day time temperatures in over 100 years. Here we have recorded 12C which is astonishingly warm for the time of year - and some people say there is no such thing as climate change! Along with the mild temperatures we have experienced some very strong winds. Some of the sea areas around the UK experienced hurricane force 12 winds overnight.
We have had some buzzards feeding on the corpse of a rabbit in the field next door all morning. A large (200+) flock of lapwing was around in the afternoon but they only stayed for about an hour.
Camera traps last night drew a blank - but I find they do work better when you check the battery strength before putting them out!


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