This Month
Meadowsweet
The maturing of old pastures under the summer sun brings a crop of orchids on the few last remaining flower-rich meadows in the valley. Places like Sylvias Meadow, the Cornwall Wildlife Trust reserve near St Ann’s Chapel are flooded with the tall spikes of heath spotted, butterfly and marsh orchids. Well worth a visit on their open days.
Pond life is abundant and it is well worth seeking out a local pond to watch the acrobatic displays of dragonflies and damselflies basking in the sun on the green stem of a reed. Herons are quick to exploit local ponds as an easy source of food but are more commonly seen on the banks of the Tamar, where our native grey heron is joined by a more recent interloper, its cousin the little white egret.
This is a good time of year to take a boat or canoe trip up the higher reaches of the river above Cotehele to see the herons and other bank-side bird like the kingfisher.
Local cherries are in season though in most years the birds strip our last few remaining trees before they are ripe. Cherries and their relatives appear to hybridise and in the hedges are all sorts of Prunus variants of various shapes and sizes, some of which are large and sweet enough to eat.
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