A week of showcasing the nature recovery work of the east kent downs farmer group with a big thx to Great Cauldham Farm for hosting an evening orchid walk & a big thx to Wingham Wheat Club for the tour of our Barham Downs project c/o Hawarden Farms,Uffington Court and Robert Spencer

First of the seasons green hay spreading projects this w/e targeting yellow rattle. Thx to wickencontracting for well rehearsed technique of flail collector,loading forks & spreading by bale chopper,followed with oinkandudder shetland cows to hoof in. Farmers leading nat' recov'

With the 15 yrs of seeding work of the 120ha wildflower grassland plain now complete, our Barham Downs project has been busy this year adding ancillary habitats inc’ this series of 5 new ponds, allowing some areas to develop scrub & cattle grazing to provide shorter🌷rich swards

Big thx to Kelly Jowett for another inspiring carabid beetle day & to work with FWAG South East Affinity Water 🦆 . Great to showcase the work of Hope Farm Doug Taylor as host for the beetle trial🪰🪳🪲

The long term landscape scale work of wildflower grassland creation of our farmers now building pace this yr with this farm providing wildflower green hay from new meadows to community green spaces/gardens,thx to Canterbury District Biodiversity Network,Farmers leading🦋🐦 recov'

Good to see Bright Wave moth numbers in their hundreds, 30+ small blue, Sussex Emerald and ruderal bumble bee amongst the sightings across these newly created wildflower grasslands Butterfly Conservation Kent & SE London walk today. Farmers leading nature recovery 🦋🪰🐦🪲

Great to see oinkandudder Shetland cows doing the heavy lifting for nature recovery on these new wildflower grasslands,with dung beetles colonising the first fresh pats on the meadow within minutes & larvae developing in adjacent field's 'week old' pats #swardmosaic #bareground

After an extended wild flower bloom we decided to take a hay cut, stopping the grass from becoming too dominant and allowing wild flowers such as Yellow Rattle to get established. Feed livestock ✔️ Nature ✔️ ⁦Nature Friendly Farming Network⁩ ⁦Goodnestone Park⁩

Yellow rattle green hay spreading in full swing this week, enhancing the most recent creation projects in our east kent valleys area & completing the seamless corridors of new wildflower grasslands through two valley systems. Farmers creating high nature value landscapes at scale

Long term 30+ year wildflower grassland creation reaping rewards with brown banded carder & six belted clearwing amongst new colonisers of this landscape network of new grasslands around the Stour Valley. Thx to Rebecca Butterfly Conservation 🦋 for ID. Farmers restoring nature at scale👍

Tremendous to refind (after a gap of many years) Autumn Lady's-tresses in the park at Doddington Place during our field meeting today! #orchids Kent Downs National Landscape Dan Tuson

Many thanks to Butterfly Conservation Kent & SE London volunteers for survey across the Barham Downs grassland creation network. Great to see Bright Wave in abundance with brown banded carder, large tiger hoverfly & fiery clearwing nearby. Farmers leading nature recovery 🦋🪰🪲🪳

With over 1800ha of new wildflower grasslands, large scabious is now becoming a widespread plant across the project landscapes, driving the recovery of scarce species such as large scabious mining bee.. these 2 on new grasslands discovered this week...Farmers leading 🐝recovery

Looing forward to welcoming Kelly Jowett with Rothamsted Research team for bioblitz w/end on newly created wildflower grasslands network @ east kent downs landscape recov proj' oinkandudder Nonington Farms, Denne Hill Farms, Hearts Delight Farm Kent Bat Group 🦇🦇🦇 Farmers leading 🐜recov'

Some highlights from the weekend bug hunting in the Kent downs with Kelly Jowett, Insect Survey and Dan Tuson. Great green bush crickets, wasp spiders, Cerceris quadricincta and Ectophasia crassipennis! All in a day's work! #kentdowns #bughunting

What a great bio blitz weekend with Kelly Jowett and Insect Survey on our newly created wildflower grassland networks! A squadron of hornet robberfly, dor beetle, great green bush cricket and more! East Kent farmers leading nature recovery 🪲🕷️🦋🐞🕷️🪳🪰🦟

Green hay spreading from woodland mini meadows into newly created glades to create seamless herb rich corridors connecting adjacent new wildflower meadow sites surrounding the woodland.. Farmers leading nature recovery🦋

Long term focus on creating wildflower grasslands at scale bringing increasing resource of seed for new projects. This 15 yr old grassland now providing cowslip for seed transfer to nearby reverted grasslands to create new habitat for ever-expanding duke of burgundy colonies 🦋

Last October's wild marjoram and wild basil green hay transfers bearing fruit this year with marjoram, basil and red bartsia coming through now in these new arable reversion areas. Farmers leading nature recovery 🦋🪲🐜🪰