On Good Friday we headed out from Stanmore in Winchester, walking along part of the Clarendon Way, then up to Sparsholt and back via Crab Wood. A good loop taking in ancient trackways and woodland, with great butterfly spotting opportunities - holly blues, orange tips, brimstone, speckled wood, small tortoiseshell and comma. And the bluebells in Crab Wood (a SSSI on the western edge of Winchester, adjacent to Farley Mount Country Park) were looking great. Still not at their peak, but enough to carry the sweet scent in the air. I really don't think I could live anywhere else in the world - missing out on the bluebell spectacle is unacceptable!
On Tuesday I was lucky enough to do some volunteering through work, counting snakes-head fritillary plants at North Meadow by the pretty village of Cricklade, north of Swindon. These beautiful plants are only found on a handful of sites across the country, and need careful and traditional management of the floodplain meadows, being cut for hay then grazed. It seemed to be a good year for them, making them easier to spot. An idyllic day!
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