WILDLIFE OF ROADSIDE VERGES

Roadside verges offer an extraordinary range of microclimates and habitats – and they spring into life this month. Here are some of the key species that thrive there.

KESTREL

A familiar sight to motorists, hovering alongside busy roads looking to pinpoint small rodents before dropping, talons first, to snatch a meal.

OX-EYE DAISY

Motorway embankments swarm with ox-eye daisies in the summer months – one of the great overlooked wildlife spectacles in Britain.

BANK VOLE

Lovers of nuts, seeds, berries and insects, bank voles are one of Europe’s most common mammals, and thrive in grassy roadside verges.

FIELD CRICKET

Crickets bring soporific musical chirps to the verge. The male lives in a burrow and sings at the entrance to attract a mate.

SIX SPOT BURNET MOTH

Red spots on jet black wings give this moth finery to challenge any butterfly. Seen flitting among the thistles and scabious of meadows.

RED CAMPION

These abundant rose-pink flowers light up the foot of the hedge. Its roots were once boiled to make soap and its seeds used to treat snakebite.

COW PARSLEY

THE flower of country lanes in May – it leaps out in front of the car, demanding attention. Tall, with great umbels of white flowers, it is a key nectar plant.

COMMON SPOTTED ORCHID

It can seem a surprise to see flower royalty in the humble verge but many orchid species thrive in these microclimates.