Meadows and grasslands

• You might think of a bright green field grazed by black and white cows when someone mentions 'grassland', but the really good stuff that's filled with important plants and animals is less green in colour and much rarer. 
• Like heathland, most grassland is a man-made habitat, dating from when Bronze Age humans cleared our natural woodland to grow their crops. 
• It's thought that 97 per cent of grassland has been lost since 1930! That's why the plants and animals found on it are so precious.

Grassland is great for a wide variety of plants and animals which are not found in other, more common habitats.

Insects and flowers are the crowning glories of good grassland. Which ones are present depends on the soil beneath. For example, on chalk grassland you'll find marbled white butterflies flitting around, and on neutral or acid soils, maybe red and black six-spot burnet moths lurking amongst the grasses.

Grasslands are the best place to find orchids with weird names like green-winged orchid, man orchid and pyramidal orchid. They look as wonderful as they sound odd.

Visit in spring and you're certain to hear the famous song of the skylark, performed as it flies higher and higher above its territory until it's invisible to the naked eye.

You're also likely to encounter 'Professor Yaffle' - the green woodpecker - as he hops about on the ground and attacks ant-hills.

In a very few areas, stone-curlews, weird, boggly-eyed, long-legged wading birds, hunt for insects amongst the grass.

Stay until dusk and you might find a barn owl floating back and forth in search of a furry supper.

Farming and building

Modern farming uses lots of fertilisers which are bad for the small rare plants that make this habitat special. In many cases people have also built on this land, meaning there is only a tiny amount of it left. 

Care and attention

Grassland needs to be looked after - left alone it will naturally sprout bushes and then woodland. Just the right amount of cows and sheep are needed to keep this delicate habitat as it is. 

Split up

Now there's much less of it than there was, the remaining isolated fragments of habitat mean that species are vulnerable, trapped out on a limb.

Our grassland reserves are vital sanctuaries for nesting birds such as skylarks and waders. The wild calls and display flights of lapwings, curlews, snipe and redshanks are a star spring attraction. In the summer, colourful displays of wildflowers bloom.

Top tips for a visit!

These tips will help you to make the most of your visit:

• Visit in spring for birdsong and the amazing display flights of wading birds
• Look down - grassland and wet meadows are rich in wildflowers in spring and summer
• Grassland is great for insects too - look for butterflies, bees and all kinds of fascinating creatures

• Bird guide: barn owl
• Bird guide: curlew
• Bird guide: green woodpecker
• Bird guide: lapwing
• Bird guide: redshank
• Bird guide: skylark
• Bird guide: snipe
• Bird guide: stone-curlew