In early spring whilst Andrew was checking the cattle in our water meadow he came across some unusual flowers which he had not seen before. He came back and was so keen to find out their name that he returned to take some photos and posted them on our news blogg. We were very grateful to Liz and John Mason for naming these flowers. Snakeshead Fritillary is the  common name for fritillaria meleagris. Fritillary refers to the colouration of the flowers. They are a checkered reddish-brown, purple, white and grey. Other common names are Guinea-hen flower this is because the checkerboard pattern resembles the patterning on guinea fowl, for which reason the species is named meleagris, meaning 'guinea fowl '. The name Fritillaria, means 'dicing box' because  the hanging flowers' resemble a wicker-

woven dicebox). Snakeshead because the shape of the unopened bud resembles that of  a snake's head. They appear in  undisturbed water meadows in early spring and are rare.

	During spring the grass verges are regularly carpeted with cowslips and Hilary is often woken in the early hours of late spring nights by the exquisite singing of nightingales.
During July we were treated to the viewing of this little beauty a Scarce Swallowtail  Iphiclides podalirius, we often see deer frolicking in our nearby fields and feel privileged to be so near to nature.