M69 Island, Sapcote
Selected Wild Place / Other Wild Places / Public Rights of Way / VC55 boundary
This traffic roundabout is situated at junction 2 of the M69 where it exits onto the B4669 Sapcote to Hinckley Road. There are several lay-byes within a few hundred yards where parking is possible.
It is only possible to exit and enter the M69 for Leicester at this junction (not to or from Coventry).
Total species seen at this site:
It might seem odd including a roundabout as one of our Wild Spaces but this one has proved to be a rich site for both flora and insects. Its proximity to nearby Freeholt Wood and Burbage Wood, and the fact that it is surrounded by trees and bushes, help to encourage a rich woodland edge insect population.
The flora includes Common Spotted Orchids which are abundant here. A single Bee Orchid has also been found on the site as has the rather infrequent Smooth Tare. The salted roadsides bordering the roundabout have produced Lesser Sea-spurrey and Reflexed Saltmarsh-grass.
The insect life is very rich with good numbers of species such as Roesel's Bush-cricket, and several species of grasshopper, together with various beetles (including the recently arrived Swollen-thighed Beetle), hoverflies, bugs and moths. It is a good place to look for the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet Moth. Mating pairs and their larvae have been recorded on the site.
The Blackthorn thickets on the roundabout are one of very few places nationally where the galls of gall midge Putoniella pruni have been recorded.
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