Snake's head fritillary

Iffley Meadows nature reserve by the Thames in Oxford is one of fewer than 30 sites in the country where snake's head fritillaries bloom in the wild. Every year since 1983 there has been a count of flower heads to assess the health of the meadows. Numbers vary as a result of flooding during the previous 24 months, the weather just before and during the flowering season and the impact of browsing deer. That first year there were fewer than 500; some years there are more than 80,000.

Last Wednesday, in pouring rain, volunteers counted 45,734 and today, in sunshine and warmth, our covid-free contingent went in search of some of them (extra).