Verdant Meadows - The Ultimate Refuge for Summer Migrants

BY: Oliver Fox, West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project

Impacts of the drought conditions last summer are still being felt right across the country, not least in the numbers of insects being recorded by expert and amateur observers alike. Mid-summer should see the mass emergence of hoverflies, bees, wasps, flies, moths and a host of other invertebrates, all part of a wider web of biodiversity we see around us and vital pollinators of our crops and food.

So far this summer, the numbers of insects being recorded seems to be far lower than average and one of the main causes could be the long, dry summer we experienced last year which interrupted the natural breeding cycles of many species. Extreme weather fluctuations associated with climatic warming are having stark influences on the natural world and the abundance of wildlife around the globe.

Female Reed Bunting

Against this worrying backdrop, stepping into the water meadows at Southrop at the moment is excitedly different: swarms of mayflies drift above the river, banks of dense bramble are covered in several varieties of bumblebee and the newly-opened hogweed umbels are visited by hoverflies and beetles of many different colours and forms. Even the savagely-biting horseflies, Notch-horned Clegs, are present in high numbers and have to be swatted away as we walk through the fields. The verdant grassland giving rise to this insect abundance is dense and rich, to the point of being impenetrable in some places, and provides the ideal setting for a diverse range of birdlife to settle and breed.

Given the inaccessibility of much of the area, the best way to identify what is around is by sound. Sedge Warblers, Common Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats sing loudly from their hedgerow haunts but do not venture far now they have set up territories. The distinctive rattle of the Grasshopper Warbler, a speciality of only the thickest riparian habitat, is always a pleasure to hear calling from the same location as in previous years, a spot where a native Clematis sprawls out over the blackthorn hedgerow. A new addition this year has been the arrival of a pair of Cetti’s Warblers – a species rapidly colonising new sites in southern Britain thanks to the warmer winters and told by the explosive and loud song of the male birds.

Male Reed Bunting

While late to arrive this year, a returning Cuckoo has been seen regularly around the meadows since mid-May and more recently observed chasing a female from tree to tree. She will be looking for Reed Warbler nests in which to lay her eggs before they both depart in the next few weeks, leaving their offspring to be raised by the surrogate warbler adults.

Bucking the trend of declining wildlife seen nationally, the wild water meadows host many juvenile birds now – Reed Buntings, Robins, Dunnocks and Blackbirds all have young out in the hedgerows and more fledglings in nests to come. Surveys of the birdlife demonstrate how many birds there are, hidden from sight in the thick vegetation and keeping a low profile from the hunting Kestrels and Barn Owls overhead.

Two pairs of Barn Owls around the fields are also late to start nesting this year, waiting for the number of their Field Vole and Field Mouse prey to be right for raising their chicks. The male owls are regularly encountered quartering over the meadows in the half-light after dawn, taking food back to the nest boxes where the females are incubating eggs.

Shielded from disturbance and human inputs the lush water meadows yet again provide the ultimate refuge for nature to proliferate in these summer months.

Barn Owl

West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project is run by a small team of volunteers to promote conservation, research and engagement with several local farmers and landowners. The project aims to help turn around the worrying declines in farmland bird populations seen in the UK over the last 50 years, through the promotion of wildlife-friendly management practices, environmental stewardship options and awareness of challenges faced by farmland birds throughout their life cycles. Over the last five years the project has worked on a large number of farms on the conservation of several key species, including Corn Buntings, Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings, Tree Sparrows and Barn Owls.

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