01-02-2023 · Distant view of the sea from the top corner of the meadow.
27-02-2023 · Levelling of a patch inside the entrance, ready for a pony-loading pen.
03-04-2023 · High up in a flowering willow tree, a buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) is collecting pollen.
09-04-2023 · A mass of primroses (Primula vulgaris) flowering down the west side of the meadow.
20-04-2023 · A bit of the south-east facing hedge partway down the meadow, with greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea), hawthorn (Crataegus) and gorse (Ulex europaeus) in flower. Numerous other plants are showing amongst the grass, particularly what looks like clary (Salvia sp.).
10-05-2023 · Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) moving into the bottom south corner from adjacent woodland.
10-05-2023 · Remains of the fruiting body of a fungus, possibly the blusher (Amanita rubescens), evidently liked by various creatures.
10-05-2023 · A delicate fungus (probably Conocybe tenera) growing up through the grass near the top of the meadow.
10-05-2023 · A tiny Coprinus fungus (probably plicatilis) peeping out of the sward. The latin name means "pleated dung-lover", so thank-you, ponies.
01-07-2023 · Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) doing well this year on the steep slopes.
01-08-2023 · The kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is back hovering...
01-08-2023 · ...then lands on a wire at the bottom of the meadow.
08-06-2023 · Swathes of birds-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) have appeared all over the steep slopes since the moorland ponies have been visiting each autumn.
17-08-2023 · A Jersey Tiger Moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria) flying around at the top of the meadow, seemingly never-resting. It flies by day and night.
Short slow-motion video of this moth. (opens in a popup or separate tab/window).
28-08-2023 · At last the pony-loading pen construction is almost finished and it will be ready to use by the time the ponies arrive in a few weeks.
28-08-2023 · This large wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi) was hard to miss in the grass on a steep part of the meadow. The Wasp spider's appearance deters predators as the spider waits for crickets and grasshoppers to get caught in its orb web.
04-11-2023 · Four Dartmoor ponies delivered by RSPB to spend a couple of months grazing the meadow and an adjoining area.