Water, water, water!
At the beginning of the year, we started measuring the hydrology of the site so that we can find out more about its ecology. Now a small team of volunteers regularly measure the water level in the 9 dip wells that are dotted around the site. These porous tubes (inserted into the ground to a depth of 1m) allow the level of water below the ground to be measured and monitored over time. The data collected will help us to better understand the floodplain meadow, particularly in terms of which plants we can expect to grow in certain areas.

Coming up on the 9^th May we have an Introduction to Floodplain Meadow Management and Ecology a talk and guided walk. This event is aimed at anyone who would like to find out more about the restoration and management of the meadows, whether you’d like to get involved, just curious or have a bit of land yourself that you’d like to manage better for nature. 

Regular butterfly surveying is getting seasonal traction too on Bartonsham Meadows reserve, led by local ecologist Anna Grundy:
 
‘A group of volunteers has just begun a second year of butterfly recording at Bartonsham Meadows as part of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS).  This initiative, run by the charity Butterfly Conservation, has been running since 1976 making it one of the longest insect monitoring schemes in the world, with over 3000 sites across the UK.  Volunteers walk a set route (transect) through the Reserve each week (when weather conditions allow) to record all butterflies observed along that route.   We had a pretty poor year for butterflies last year, reflecting the national trend, which Butterfly Conservation say was the 5^th worst year on record with 51 or the 58 species analysed showing a decline in comparison with 2023 and over a third of species showing a significant long-term decline.
 
This year has got off to a promising start however, with six species - small tortoiseshells, speckled wood, peacock, holly blue, small white and lots of orange tips - recorded during a single transect, despite an almost complete lack of sunshine. Orange tips are a distinctive sign of spring, being one of the first species to emerge (as opposed to overwintering as an adult).  They are a butterfly of damp habitats, typically associated with lady’s smock, a plant of damp meadows, which is particularly abundant on Bartonsham Meadows this year.  They also lay eggs on other brassica (cabbage family) species, including hedge mustard and charlock, and even garden Aubretia. 
 
Butterfly Conservation are keen to gather data on as many sites in the UK as possible, so if you are interested in setting up a transect of your own, you can register it with the UKBMS at https://ukbms.org/   or if you would just like to help reverse the decline in these species, tips on how to garden for butterflies and moths can be found here  https://butterfly-conservation.org/how-you-can-help/get-involved/gardening    
Anna Grundy, Consultant Ecologist.