The reserve at Messingham is looking truly wonderful at the moment with a wildflower display around every corner- thanks in the main to the hard work of John Davidson and John Petyt who due to an unfortunate turn of events are no longer in the roles of voluntary wardens of the reserve. So if you want to see it at its best go now as in my opinion the Lincolnshire Trust who manage the reserve will not have the experience or expertise to maintain it in its present state.
Yarrow - Achillea millefolium
Sneezewort - Achillea ptarmica
Heathers with Hawkweed in the background
Narrow Leaved Hawkweed - Hieracium umbellatum
Tansy - Tanacetum vulgare
Great Willowherb - Epilobium hirsutum
Hemp Agrimony - Eupatorium cannabinum
Ragwort with a Cinnabar Caterpillar feeding on it - they absorb the bitter tasting alkaloids that make ragwort distasteful to animals and become distasteful to birds as a result. The bright colours are a warning to birds not to eat them.
Field Scabious - Knautia arvensis
Common Fleabane - Pulicaria dysenterica
Hedge Bindweed - Calystegia sepium
Red Admiral butterfly on Hemp Agrimony - seems to me to have been a poor year for butterflies except for Red Admirals and these are probably continental ones not our own.
Purple Loosestrife - Lythrum salicaria
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