Audrey's Meadow is a nature reserve in Newbury in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. It is owned by

West Berkshire Council West Berkshire Council is the local authority of West Berkshire in Berkshire, England. The council was created in 1974 as Newbury District Council, and was a lower-tier district council until 1998. The district was renamed West Berkshire on 1 Ap ...

and 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part ...

Geography and site

Audrey's Meadow contains a mixture of improved and semi-improved neutral grassland and wet woodland with ponds.

History

In 2011 the meadow was adopted as a public open space and named after one of the parish councilors, Mrs Audrey Appleby. In 2014 it was transferred from

to the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Fauna

The site has the following fauna:

Amphibians

Common frog The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog or simply the frog, is a semi ...

Invertebrates

*'' Aeshna grandis'' *''

Polyommatus icarus The common blue butterfly or European common blue (''Polyommatus icarus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae and subfamily Polyommatinae. The butterfly is found throughout the Palearctic and has been introduced to North America. Butterfli ...

'' *''

Anax imperator The emperor dragonfly or blue emperor (''Anax imperator'') is a large species of hawker dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae. It is the largest dragonfly in most of Europe, including the United Kingdom, although exceeded in some areas by other speci ...

'' *'' Ochlodes sylvanus'' *''

Maniola jurtina The meadow brown (''Maniola jurtina'') is a butterfly found in the Palearctic realm. Its range includes Europe south of 62nd parallel north, 62°N, Russia eastwards to the Urals, Asia Minor, Iraq, Iran, North Africa and the Canary Islands. The l ...

'' *'' Chorthippus parallelus'' *''

Aphantopus hyperantus The ringlet (''Aphantopus hyperantus'') is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is only one of the numerous "ringlet" butterflies in the tribe Satyrini. Range The ringlet is a widely distributed species found throughout much of the Pale ...

'' *'' Metrioptera roeselii'' *'' Argynnis paphia'' *''

Thymelicus sylvestris The small skipper (''Thymelicus sylvestris'') is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Appearance It has a rusty orange colour to the wings, upper body, and the tips of the antennae. The body is silvery white below, and it has a wingspan of 25 ...

'' *''

Argiope bruennichi ''Argiope bruennichi'', commonly known as the wasp spider, is a species of orb-weaver spider found across Central and Northern Europe, several regions of Asia and Africa and the Azores. Like many other members of the same genus '' Argiope'', th ...

Birds

*'' Parus caeruleus'' *''

Parus major The great tit (''Parus major'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of No ...

'' *'' Poecile palustris'' *'' Turdus philomelos''

Flora

The site has the following flora: *'' Lamiastrum galeobdolon'' *'' Melica uniflora'' *''

Anemone nemorosa ''Anemonoides nemorosa'' (syn. ''Anemone nemorosa''), the wood anemone, is an early-spring flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe. Other common names include windflower, European thimbleweed, and smell fox, an all ...

'' *'' Conopodium majus'' *''

Lathyrus pratensis ''Lathyrus pratensis'' or meadow vetchling, yellow pea, meadow pea and meadow pea-vine, is a perennial legume that grows to 1.2 m in height. The hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated by bees. As a perennial, this plant reproduces itself over man ...

'' *'' Vicia sepium'' *''

Hyacinthoides non-scripta ''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'' (formerly ''Endymion non-scriptus'' or ''Scilla non-scripta'') is a bulbous perennial plant found in Atlantic areas from the north-western part of the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles, and also frequently used ...

References

{{Authority control Parks and open spaces in Berkshire Nature reserves in Berkshire Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust