Concern over flower count in Oxfordshire
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust cite several reasons for the numbers
Just over 6,000 snake’s head fritillaries were counted at the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust's recent count.
The 2024 tally of 6,087 for the Oxfordshire county flower is the lowest number counted since 1993 down from 43,000 in 2023.
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust Senior Ecologist Colin Williams believes the nature of the flowers habitat could continue to be a problem:
"The flowers grow on flood pain meadows which is a fragile habitat. It explains that if we have more severe weather events it could play havoc with fritillaries as the years roll on.
"When we first counted them it was late April, but now it's mid-month which is another sign of climate change.
"Another observation is that the year 2008 was affected by severe flooding from back in 2007, but then 2009 went on to see the recorded numbers of the flower triple in volume."