Croft Pastures

Over in Croft, not too far away from home, there is a LRWT reserve that I have only ever briefly visited once. To be honest, when I went there I didn't know anything about the reserve and the initial view from the entrance gateway wasn't too spectacular. The same view today is not too different, other than being more sunny and having a carpet of buttercups.

The only other difference in the view is also the reason that my first visit ended at that gate - I didn't even go through to see whether the reserve was any good. On my first visit, the meadow was full of these .....

I have an irrational loathing / rational fear of cattle, not looking at them in a field or eating them for dinner of course, just walking through fields full of them. I hate the way that they seem incapable of living their lives without getting caked up in their own shite, and I dislike the way that they invade your personal space and follow you around with an evil glare and an intent to trample you to death.

Back when I first visited, I was only thinking about moths and potential trapping sites - no thoughts of other stuff. So for a good few years I have never even considered going back to Croft Pastures as I had no inkling as to how interesting the place was, what good species could be there and I knew it was grazed throughout the spring - autumn period when I might consider moth trapping. That changed when a few photos were posted up to the NatureSpot website last weekend and I realised there were some good flowering plants to be seen there. So I resolved to go and have a look and put my life on the line for the sake of some PSL ticks. As it happened, the cattle completely ignored me and kept themsleves well away from where I wanted to look.

I'm now wishing I'd been and looked around this place before - the habitat is brilliant and I'm sure that over a few visits there will be a few interesting inverts to be had. I nipped over briefly on Thursday evening and again this morning. On both visits my focus was mainly on finding some particular plants and having a bit if a look around the place. I'll post about what I saw there separately, but I'll use this post to just show what the place is looking like at the moment. I will certainly be going back - though I'm still suspicious that the cattle are just lulling me into a false sense of security and planning my demise.