This was a rare opportunity to visit this SSSI floodplain meadow which was transferred to Parks Trust ownership in 2020. The Society last visited this location in 2008 so it was perhaps no surprise that more than 30 members attended.

We were fortunate to have with us Professor David Gowing from the Open University, who leads the Floodplain Meadows Partnership. David led our sizeable group from the meeting place at Oxley Park shops and we walked in a crocodile from there to the mead! Not quite sure what the local residents made of us.

Once in the meadow, David gave us all a general introduction to the site – what makes it special, how it is managed and what we are learning from over 20 years of monitoring. We were greeted by a magnificent display of flowering Great Burnet, Yellow Rattle and Meadow Buttercups. Great Burnet is one of the key indicator species of MG4 grassland and it is abundant in Oxley Mead. Meadowsweet was flourishing but not yet in full flower.

Thereafter, we split into two groups with those more interested in the flora staying with David and Martin Kincaid taking the other group to look for invertebrates. The forecast rain held off and we were able to find plenty of moths including Small Magpie, Silver Ground Carpet, Yellow Shell, Straw Dot and Silver-y. Surprisingly, the only butterfly found was a solitary Small Heath. We also found a host of nymphs of Roesel’s Bush-cricket and a few Dark Bush-cricket. Alan Nelson went to look for damselflies in the ditch but the cool conditions were against him. He did however spot a Hobby flying overhead. Other birds of note were a Skylark singing just outside the meadow and a party of about 8-10 House Martins who were whizzing around the mead. There appears to be a healthy population of these birds nesting in Oxley Park housing estate.

All in all, a highly enjoyable meeting to what is surely the finest floodplain grassland in MK.

Martin Kincaid