Meadowlands

Meadowlands.
Eileen and I decided to visit the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Metfield Meadow, also known as Wink’s meadow. It is, along with many ancient meadows a true oasis in a desert of monocultured arable crops removed hedges and little if any field edges.
In the days of the Lowestoft Field Club we visited the meadow frequently to observe and record the flora. There are seven species of Orchid to be found there and the club’s visits found most over the years. It has been a late flowering year for many trees shrubs and plants so our visit in mid May was a bit too early for the real rarity there. The majority of the Orchids were the Anacamptis morio. Green winged Orchid. As we stood at one end of the meadow we could see hundreds of flower spikes. A systematic walk through the grassland produced a few small clumps of the uncommon Ophioglossum vulgare Adder’s Tongue. And Primula veris Cowslip. The main Buttercup in flower so far was the Ranunculus bulbosa. Bulbous Buttercup. Easily identified by the downturned sepals the only spring and early summer Buttercup with this feature. The Crateagus monogyna ssp nordica Hawthorn was only just in flower which is late as on the first day of May we found full flowering trees in Newmarket. Many song birds were breeding in the thick hedgerow which is mixed with many shrubs like Euonymous europeus Spindle, although not in flower. We will now plan another summer visit to see the rare orchid and the six other species recorded here.
It may be the most difficult reserve to find but it really is worth the visit.