Coronation Meadow

Chadkirk has been very popular in recent months. Visitors have enjoyed the woodland walks, the Walled Garden and the fields of meadow grass. In spring and summer 2020 many more of the visitors have walked around Chadkirk Country Park, often daily, with some new visitors perhaps returning regularly. From spring to summer a transformation, evident throughout Chadkirk Estate. Trees coming into leaf, the gardens coming into flower and the meadows changing from green to russet and ochre as the grasses flower and ripen.

During June and July the flowering plants in the meadows attract insects and butterflies. These in turn attract bats and birds. As the summer moves on, the flowers begin to turn to seed and the butterflies will continue their life cycle. The nectar of the flowers provides food for the butterflies. To lay their eggs, butterflies will seek out plants, such as nettles, that will provide food for the caterpillars. In the next stage of their life cycle, caterpillars turn into pupae before emerging once again as a butterfly.

On summer days you might see meadow browns and gate keepers, small tortoiseshells, peacocks, brimstone, small skippers and speckled woods.

As the summer progresses, the meadows at Chadkirk will be cut.
By then the caterpillars will have moved from the nettles to where they pupate. The timing of the cut is always a balance between what’s best for wildlife and the right conditions for cutting. In a typical British summer, it can be a case of looking for a dry spell to get the work done. Whenever that happens, Coronation Meadow is the last to be cut. Until that then, looking out over the meadows, which butterflies can you see?