The Conservation Field, Littleton is situated in the recreation ground at the north end of the football pitches. Work commenced in 1993 with the participation of many local people including school children, teachers, conservation volunteers, Wildlife Trust volunteers, community service workers, residents and Parish Councillors. Gay and the late Walter Weyndling managed the field over many years until Barbara & David Strugnell took over this role about two years ago.
Today (29
June 2007) I visited the conservation field following heavy storms over the last
week. It was hot and sunny with a bit of a breeze. The field looked lovely with
waving grass and hogweed over the outer area.
Around the area where the wildflowers have been encouraged and cultivated it was
teeming with insects and butterflies and was quite magical.
Butterflies on the wing included a pair of marbled whites, several hedge browns, a comma and a ringlet. Amongst the flowers there were several corncockles, once a common cornfield flower but now one of our rarest wildflowers. There were scabious, musk mallow, poppies, ox-eye daisies, meadow cranesbill and corn marigolds. There was a lot of Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon and as it was around 2.00pm he was true to his name as there wasn’t a flower to be seen! He has what looks like jumbo dandelion clocks and I really like the name.
I was
pleased to find grasshoppers jumping out of my way in the long grass, and over
on the nettle patch big excitement as I have recently been able to identify the
rolled up leaf tents that contain the solitary caterpillar of the red admiral
butterfly and there they were.
They need seeking out but if you look really hard you can find them. The
caterpillar will eat its way out of its nettle tent and attach itself under a
nettle leaf and turn into a chrysalis until 17 days later the butterfly will
emerge. I am sure the chrysalis will be hard to spot but it must be worth a
try. A big bonus, for me, was to see a large black caterpillar, now identified
by Alan Lyne, as most likely that of a peacock butterfly. When the peacock
butterfly has emerged it will often feed on buddleia, ice-plants and rotten
fruit. It will hibernate through the winter in sheds and outhouses and can live
for almost a year from July to the following May.
Nettle patches are the breeding grounds for the aristocratic butterflies. Small tortoiseshells, peacocks, commas, red admirals and occasionally even painted ladies. When the young caterpillars of small tortoiseshells and peacocks hatch they live together in a mass of spun silk eating the nettle tops. I could find no evidence of them so maybe it is too late in the season. The advantage of feeding on nettles is that most grazing animals leave nettles alone. In fact more than 40 species of insect, including aphids, bugs and beetles, are either completely or partially dependent on nettles for food and shelter.
The marbled white
butterfly is the only British butterfly with the distinctive black-and-white
pattern and when I looked it up in a reference book it was shown on knapweed
which is just where it was in the conservation field when I took this picture,
so clearly one of its nectar plants.
The marbled white, and the ringlet lay their eggs while flying. There is a good
chance that they will fall on one of the grasses that the caterpillars will eat
such as cock’s-foot and sheep’s-fescue. This part of the field was particularly
full of insect life.
There is a lot of yellow rattle in this area it is ‘hemi parasitic’ which means that it fixes its roots on to the root system of an adjoining grass and extracts water and minerals, thus reducing the vigour of the grasses that can outgrow and smother the wild flowers. The creation of artificial wild flower meadows is not for the faint hearted but here in the humble yellow rattle is an ally.
We have Barbara and David Strugnell to thank for all the hard work they have put into looking after and developing the area. They have arranged for the field to be mowed at regular and carefully timed intervals with some areas receiving more cuts than others in order to encourage the flowers. They have also planted seeds and small plants. On a beautiful day like today and with all the insects and butterflies about we are all able to enjoy the fruits of their labour. A big thank you to both of you.
Barbara Elsmore June 2007