29 May 2011

Little Hills Farm

The fields of unimproved marshy grassland at Little Hills support a fantastic assemblage of plants and insects including key species such as Marsh Fritillary (Eurodryas aurinia) and Soft-leaved Sedge (Carex montana), but it is the quality and richness of the habitat mosaic across the site that is most impressive.
Heath Spotted-orchids
Heath Spotted-orchids (Dactylorhiza maculata) are locally abundant along with Meadow Thistle (Cirsium dissectum), Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) and a wide range of sedges. The farm is private land but is pretty much an extension of the habitats on Pengwern Common where a similar range of species can be seen, the western margin being a particularly good area to explore (~SS631917).
Marsh Fritillary eggs and cuckoo-spit on
Devil's-bit Scabious
For more pictures from Little Hills check out http://moonmoths.blogspot.com/
Thanks go to CCW staff for inviting us to join them on one of their monitoring visits.

1 comment:

Charles Hipkin said...

It's so reassuring to know that species rich meadows like that still survive in our part of South Wales.