Meet the wildlife of my French meadow PART I

[@ruthbrompton-charlesworth4436]

I loved A Buzz in the Meadow and so it is great to be able to see it. Many thanks for all your KZbin videos. I find it is really helping me in this current grim situation. (Covid-19 pandemic).

[@anntomlinson4425]

A fascinating little film, and a great message about the recuperative powers of nature, if it's given a chance. Thank you.

[@marcelvdberg]

Very inspiring video, thanks for sharing!

[@X_explorer]

Cool vid! I like watching earth, explore and slow down...

[@elena.5509]

That was so fascinating! Especially the owl's leftovers. I loved that. (Is that weird?) Thank you for the tour.

[@raymondkilminster2194]

I'm very jealous , really enjoyed your tour . Can not wait for part 2 .

[@luciobrazil007]

Beautiful meadow. You are from Sussex!, nice , me too, we have some lovely meadows of our own

[@453421abcdefg12345]

Very nice video Dave, do you have a pond in your meadow, I find that brings in a lot more wild life, we are in the southern Lot, and there is very little water up on the plateau where we are, but we do have Large Blue and Lesser Purple Emperor to make up for it, the problem is ,when we are gone it will all get weed killed and sanitised!

[@suewright1299]

Amazing what can be done with a little forethought and passion for wildlife. I'm so envious but am really looking forward to our own garden which has seeds from BBCT planted ready for spring. So very many thanks for a wonderful tour!

[@davegoulson6831]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

Daddy long leg spiders now occupy our house. A spider we only saw when in the south of England. We're on the outskirts of Birmingham. Since their arrival we too have noticed a decline in the large house spiders and have watch them being trapped and dined on by the daddy long legs.

[@ruthbrompton-charlesworth4436]

We live in Doncaster, South Yorkshire and our house is full of Daddy Long Leg Spiders. They seem particularly fond of eating Woodlice.

[@flowerfairy1950]

Fascinating!

[@richardhudson8980]

Very interesting Natural History show, could you up the volume for part 2?

[@goomeehoo]

Hello! I have read your books about bumblebees and meadow and I like it very much. Thank you for shering this video, now I can also see your meadow.

[@MrTedoo]

Heloo Dave. Im currently reading your book A Sting in the Tail and very much enjoying it. I know research shows there is a huge problem facing insects and Ive personally noticed there are less dead bugs on my windscreen, less moths flying into my room at night (in fact theres basically none) and less insects in fields when i go for walks-i only saw 2 bees yesterday-and they were both outside gardens. Im sure other people have noticed the same thing. Its pretty terrifying stuff. Anyway, rather than be depressed I've realised I can do my bit. I live in wales, and my dad owns a large field-roughly 6 acres-which he rents out to a farmer, basically for nothing. Im determined to turn it into a meadow. Its on prime dairy farmland. Could you advise me on hows best to start going about this? Any good books/videos etc.. Thanks for the inspiration : )

[@davegoulson6831]

Hi, a good place to start is the BBCT website - they have downloadable info sheets on creating a wildflower meadow. My second book, A Buzz in the Meadow, is about creating a meadow like this in France. Your local wildlife trust may also be able to help. Good luck, I think you'll find it rewarding, but be patient! Cheers Dave

[@MrTedoo]

Brilliant! you've written a book on the subject. Thanks for the quick response. I look forward to reading A Buzz in the Meadow and getting stuck in. Thanks again x

[@ToToWildlife]

Beautiful video! Very good job!

[@wallyjumblatt]

A film that upsets me. Sixty years ago you could find meadows like yours in Britain. My grandparents lived in Flintshire in North Wales and their four to five acre meadow was full of wild flowers, cut only once a year by a local farmer. Even in Lancashire where I lived there were fields that supported similar densities of flowers and a walk through them pushed out literally clouds of different butterflies. In my opinion, silage cutting, nitrates and rye grass were the most destructive modern farming practices for biodiversity. All a result of the paranoid, political the fallout of World War 2 and the drive to avoid any future food rationing I'm doing my best to plant for insects and amphibians, but I fear people like myself, born in the middle of the 20thC, have seen the last of what I as a child considered normal--and with many, many others took for granted.

[@davegoulson6831]

I share your sadness, but perhaps we can turn things around...