On Sunday 28 July seven GNS members met at Persh Farm, Maisemore, at the invitation of the owner, Greg Chamberlayne, to look at the three flood meadows along the River Leadon, just before its confluence with the Severn. This was an unusual field meeting, in the sense that it was carried out at the invitation of a landowner who has recently carried out conservation measures and wanted records of items of natural history interest in the area. By coincidence one of the GNS participants had known the site in the 1950s and 1960s (hence before the flood-banks were installed along the Leadon in the 1960s). The name of the farm is also worth underlining: “persh” is a local word for an osier bed, once managed for production of willow rods for making baskets, hurdles and fences; the name of Pershore comes from the same root.
The three meadows along the Leadon regularly flood in winter (the flooding can be seen from a distance from the A417 when driving from Hartpury towards Maisemore and Gloucester) and under recent environmental legislation, grants have made so that they remain wet in winter. The meadows remained flooded for most of last winter, attracting surface-feeding ducks and egrets; this spring Shelducks, Mallard and Coot nested successfully. At the time of the GNS visit, water had been released from the meadows, so the main focus of the visit was botanical. The main birds of interest were at least three soaring Buzzards and a Redstart ticking in the hedges; other birds recorded were: Grey Heron, Red-legged Partridge, Blacc-headed Gull, Chiffchaff, Carrion Crow and Raven, plus the ubiquitous Wood Pigeons, all trying to make us think they were Peregrines. Three Brown Hares were playing in the meadows. Butterflies noted included; Brimstone, Red Admiral, Peacock and Marbled White.
As in so many other meadows in the Severn and Avon Vales this year, the vegetation on these fields was affected by very heavy flooding from October 2023 to April 2024. Many typical water meadow plants were present, though flowering later than usual. Among the plants were attractive stands of Purple Loosestrife, much larger stands than usual of Triffid Burr-Marigold, plants of Marsh Woundwort, Flowering Rush and Amphibious Bistort in wetter areas, with (among others) Creeping Yellow-cress, Tufted Vetch and Water Speedwell – a whole lexicon of wetland plant names! One intriguing plant was a sedge, with several specimens present, probably False Fox Sedge, rather than the rarer True Fox Sedge; we await the verdict of the society’s botanical experts: there was ultimately general agreement that the plant was indeed the commoner False Fox Sedge Carex otrubae.
Many thanks to Greg for the invitation to visit the site; it will be of great interest for GNS members to keep monitoring developments at this interesting site.
