Kissing gate to Bernwood Meadows - geograph

Bernwood Meadows is a nature reserve near Oakley in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. It is managed by the

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a wildlife trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It sh ...

. This traditional hay meadow has over 100 plant species, including

lady's bedstraw ''Galium verum'' (lady's bedstraw or yellow bedstraw) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from Israel, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and Kamchatka. It is ...

green winged orchid ''Anacamptis morio'', the green-winged orchid or green-veined orchid (synonym ''Orchis morio''), is a flowering plant of the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It usually has purple flowers, and is found in Europe and the Middle East. Description It fl ...

s and

cuckooflower ''Cardamine pratensis'', the cuckoo flower, lady's smock, mayflower, or milkmaids, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is a perennial herb native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia. The specific name ''pratensis'' is Latin ...

s. It also has many species of butterfly, such as orange tip and rare

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

and

brown hairstreak The brown hairstreak (''Thecla betulae'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The range includes most of the Palaearctic. Description The following description of this butterfly was written by Adalbert Seitz in 1909: ''Z. betulae'' L. B ...

s. other wildlife includes brown hares, kestrels and moths. There is access from the road between

Stanton St. John Stanton St. John is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about northeast of the centre of Oxford. The village is above sea level on the eastern brow of a group of hills northeast of Oxford, in a slight saddle between two of the hills. A ...

and Oakley.

References

{{Authority control Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust