With the mild and wet weather the toads beside Coombe Road have started their journey to the pond north of Duncombe Wood. Nick Read-Beale found this male toad yesterday evening on the road near Duncombe Cottage. The East Meon Nature Group ‘Toad Patrol’ will start soon. The patrollers will assist Read more…
If you look carefully the signs of spring are starting to appear, even though the days are short and it is wet, gloomy and cold. The picture shows some tightly formed hazel catkins. It won’t belong before they lengthen and expand and let their male pollen flow free.
Will Atkinson sent me this picture of an otter’s footprints captured on the stretch of the River Meon running through the fields of Lower Farm. It is good to know that the otters are still around and is a sign of the health of the River Meon (when it is Read more…
With the leaves fallen from the trees, now is a good time to spot mistletoe. They are parasites on the tree they rest in, taking water and nutrients from their hosts. Some mistletoes do perform photosynthesis during some of the year, so are only hemiparasitic. Pre-Christian cultures regarded the white Read more…
The Grow Wild organisation are offering a series of live online live events on wild flowers and fungi. Go to https://twitter.com/GrowWildUK or https://www.growwilduk.com for more details. Grow wild is a national outreach initiative of the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew amongst others.
The very colourful spindle tree fruit are showing very well as the leaves have gone from the trees. The spindle tree (euonymus europeans) has very hard wood and can be cut to a sharp point. It was used for making spindles for wool spinning and for butchers’ skewers. Charcoal produced Read more…
Pamala Peacock of ‘The Green’ spotted this very discerning wood mouse feasting on a quince! The wood mouse is one of the most widespread and abundant British mammals. It is also known as the ‘long-tailed’ mouse. It has a short life-span of around 2 years.
Along with the exceptional numbers of acorns, beech nuts, apples etc., there has been a really good crop of holly berries this year. However if you think you might get out and cut some well berried holly leaves in mid-December for your Christmas decorations you may be disappointed as the Read more…
There have been an unusual number of ravens on Park Hill and Mascoombe Bottom recently. I have seen a number of crows trying to ‘mob’ them, the crows look quite small beside the ravens. The ravens appear to be feeding on the corn cobs from the maize plants that are Read more…
With the mild and wet autumn proceeding there are a lot of fly agaric mushrooms around. These are the iconic ones that have fairies and elves sitting on them, particularly in Victorian illustrations. They are mildly poisonous and contain some psychoactive substances, so beware!