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Snakes
in the Grass
____________________________________________________
Posted: 20th April 2007
Photo: G. Bradley |
Anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm not one to get excited about wild flowers.
Trees maybe, but flowers - no.
Wild flowers have to be a very special to drag me away from my local patch to take a look.
Unusual flowers might possibly do it.
Rare flowers will sometimes do it.
An abundance of flowers will occasionally do it.
But unusual, rare flowers in abundance, well that's got to be worth a look - hasn't it?
I'm talking about North Meadow at Cricklade in Wiltshire. One hundred and ten acres of ancient, uncultivated hay meadow, where for just a few days each year, amid the golden yellow dandelions, millions of
Snake's Head Fritillaries rise up to form a beautiful purple haze across the grassland.
The glamorous purple and white chequered pattern on these native wild
flowers is really quite bizarre. It has an almost scaly, reptilian look
about it.
Photo: G. Bradley |
If you're a nature photographer this is one bit of botanical eye candy you won't want to miss. Unlike a lot of other wild subjects Snake's Head Fritillaries
can't run, and they can't hide, so you're almost guaranteed to get some cracking shots...
unless you get there too late.
When I visited the site last week (16th April) there were already plenty of fritillaries showing, but there were many more still rising up out of the grass. I reckon this weekend should be quite a show.
A real serpent spectacular.
You can enter North Meadow at any reasonable time and best of all it's free.
Details here
(Members only).
Grow Your Own Wild Flowers
Grassland Plant Identification Chart
UK Safari Snake's Head Fritillary Page
UK Safari News
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