The picture shows a good flush of cyclamens in Frogmore Lane. These are probably escapees from somebodies garden. They were a woodland plant in the UK once, but they are now very rare and maybe only found in Kentish woodlands.
This large elephant hawk moth caterpillar was spotted two weeks ago eating a rosebay willow herb plant on the bank of the river channel beside The Cross. They also eat fuchsia and bedstraw plants
A common lizard (lacerta vivipara) crossed my path very quickly when I was walking on the South Downs Way next to the Sustainability Centre. It is possibly living in the scrub area that was part of HMS Mercury.
There is a good crop of sloes this year, but you will probably have to move fast as the birds will be picking the crop as well. Sloe gin makers like to see a frost on the fruit before they pick them, but you can cheat by putting them in the freezer for a while.
Sadly we found a partially squashed baby grass snake along Coombe Road. This is the time of the year when they hatch out of eggs that are laid in June or July. Hundreds of eggs may be laid in one manure heap, which can give rise to reports of a ‘plague of snakes’! Grass snakes are our largest snake. They feed mostly on amphibians such as frogs and toads. They are preyed upon by birds, Read more…
A local bird enthusiast, has had many sightings of the rare and magnificent goshawks in the parish. They have been spotted in Hen Wood, and possibly Coombe Woods and Chappetts Copse. Historically goshawks have had a long history with East Meon. The Bishops of Winchester embraced the sport of hawking here in the 13th century, A ‘mews’ for goshawks was built here in 1248 and a certain ‘Richard’ was employed as a hawk trainer in Read more…
Sunday 2nd August saw the Hay Harvest completed in a very good time by 20+ volunteers. The hay was well dried, which made it much easier to collect. The hay was sent to Butser Ancient Farm, who were very pleased with the quality. They plan to make one or two ‘iron age’ haystacks with it, before feeding it to their animals.
At 3.00 pm on Sunday 2nd August a working party will be gathering the hay in All Saints churchyard. This is done every year as part of the process to develop a wildflower meadow in the churchyard. You are welcome to join in this work. Please contact Graham Davenport at grahammdavenport0@gmail.com if you available to help.
Blackberries are now ready for picking throughout the Parish. These blackberries pictured are at the top of Halnacker Lane and are particularly abundant. Yum yum!
Yes, it is that time of year when the blackberries will soon be ready for picking. The bramble flower nectar is one of the main sources of food for the comma butterfly in the summer months. Blackberries should not be confused with dewberries which are ripe and in the hedgerows now. Dewberries are bigger than blackberries, have fewer segments and are covered in a bluish bloom.