Image: Stonesby Quarry Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 592884

Description: Stonesby Quarry Nature Reserve. This reserve is owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust and lies within an old limestone quarry. It contains one of the best remaining limestone grasslands in Leicestershire and Rutland. This has developed on the worked out quarry floor where the soil is thin and infertile. This encourages a specific type of plant including pyramidal orchid, autumn gentian, bee orchid, and small scabious. The profusion of wild flowers in the summer attracts many insects specifically common blue, large skipper, brimstone and painted lady. The site is managed to give shelter by leaving areas of hawthorn scrub round the perimeter. This provides nesting sites for many varieties of birds including spotted flycatchers, whitethroats and willow warblers. To retain the grassland and control the spread of the scrub and courser grasses the land is grazed by sheep in the autumn. See http://www.lrwt.org.uk/pp/Silver/viewSilver.asp?ID=323
Title: Stonesby Quarry Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 592884
Credit: From geograph.org.uk
Author: Kate Jewell
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes