On a visit to the Meadow, you may be able to see some beautiful butterflies that call this wonderful place home. I have been lucky enough to see speckled wood butterflies fly in spirals among the trees by the River Cherwell, red admirals basking on the broad-walk and a delightful little brown argus butterfly perched in the undergrowth.

Walking around the meadow, you may spot one or more of the Meadow’s damselflies and dragonflies (members of the order Odonata). I have recorded 15 species here since 2022 including both UK demoiselle species – the banded (Calopteyrx splendens) and beautiful (C.virgo) -  plus stunning azure and common blue and large red damselflies and adorable common blue-tailed damselflies . Just as exciting as are the willow emerald damselflies; they unique in the UK in that it is our only damselfly to lay its eggs into the bark of woody plants! If you are very lucky, you might see a common clubtail dragonfly (Gomphus vulgatissimus), which is actually not common and is a real treat to see!

Loud Roesel’s bush crickets – in the same family as giant tropical katydids – can be heard and seen at Christ Church Meadow, their songs surely adding to the wonderful sounds of nature found here, with the chorus of birdsong alone making a calm walk around the Meadow a wonderful way to spend time. Long-winged conehead bush crickets and many grasshoppers be encountered here, as can many other small creatures like scorpionflies (mecoptera) – they are completely harmless to people – and various bees, flies, wasps and beetles including the great diving beetle and the orange ladybird (I saw my first one here in January 2025!).

It is not just insects, but spiders like wasp spiders and long-jawed spiders (Tetragnatha sp), snails, worms and wonderful water voles, and frogs, newts, and grass snakes (still one of my most treasured sightings!) that call Christ Church Meadow home. If you are careful and fortunate, a sighting of one (or even more) of these lovely creatures is sure to add a great joy.

Fluttering butterflies, dragonflies dazzling in the sun, the choir of bush crickets. Water voles munching on vegetation, smooth newts courting one another in spring, even the briefest glimpse of a grass snake gracefully swimming (a delight for reptile lovers like me). These are all lovely sights that can be experienced by those wishing to immerse themselves in the world of the smaller inhabitants, the tiny gems, of the Meadow.

Speaking of newts, hopefully some exciting news of a particular newt at Christ Church Meadow will be on its way!

Jake Dudderidge (2021, Biology).