Despite being delayed by sporadically heavy showers, we finally got Upper Seeds mown. The guys at Wytham did a fantastic job, and left a very tidy field, complete with stripes. The final stage - setting up the irrigation system and other field "furniture" - could now get going.
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| After first cut, July 2016 |
We left butterfly strips around the field margins, well away from the experimental plots, to support the plant and invertebrate diversity so apparent in Upper Seeds during the Spring.
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| Butterfly strips were left around field margins |
This approach means that early-Summer pupating butterflies and moths wouldn't be completely lost due to this first mowing - this freshly emerged Six-Spot Burnet (below) would have ended up in a silage heap, otherwise!
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| Six-spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae) | | |
The bullerfly strips also mean that many plant species are allowed to flower, and later to set seed, providing valuable forage for insects and birds.
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| Six-spot Burnet feeding on Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis) |
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| Meadow Brown on Smooth Hawksbeard (Crepis capillaris) |
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