This important site is managed by NWT in partnership with the owners, Holt Lowes Trustees.
Holt Lowes is a botanist’s delight, with a large number of scarce species. These include marsh fragrant orchid, eyebright, marsh fern, wood horsetail, lesser skullcap and common wintergreen. The site is also excellent for butterflies, with a good population of grayling. However, its speciality is dragonflies with more than 20 species recorded including the rare keeled skimmer.
Keeled skimmer
This is one of Norfolk’s rarest dragonflies. Males have a uniform blue body, whereas females are thinner and yellowish-brown in colour. On the wing from early June to September, they often fly up from the heath as you approach before settling again nearby.
Access
The main access to Holt Lowes is on foot through Holt Country Park, either from the signposted car park on the B1149 Norwich Road, or the smaller car park on the Hempstead Road. (These are not NWT car parks.)
A number of tracks run across the site.
Spring
Birds - Woodlark
Plants - Common gorse
Reptiles and amphibians - Adder
Summer
Birds - Nightjar
Plants - Common dodder, bell heather, cross- leaved heath, Pugsley’s marsh orchid, ling
Insects - Keeled skimmer
Autumn
Plants - Round-leaved sundew, common heather, Western gorse
Insects - Bog bush cricket
Winter
Plants - Common gorse, common wintergreen