Toad patrols started along Coombe Road on 4 February 2024 and finished on 16 March 2024. A total of 813 toads were found (497 males, 194 females and 122 squashed toads) and most were successfully moved across the road and placed near the pond. There was a significantly lower number of newts migrating, compared to last year. 248 which around 100 less than last year, unfortunately 17 of these were found squashed. A possible explanation Read more…
Members of East Meon Nature Group completed a survey, last Wednesday, looking for river flies in the River Meon in the section in the High Street that was planted up by The Wild Trout Trust. River flies are a good indicator of the health of the river. The Meon was extensively culverted using concrete through the majority of the village in the early 1950’s in an effort to prevent the regular flooding that had been Read more…
This year toad patrols on Coombe Road commenced on 4 February, this is nearly two weeks earlier than last year. A combination of mild weather and heavy rain has encouraged the common toads, palmate and smooth newts to start their migration to the spring fed pond to the east of Coombe Road.
The EM Nature Team have commenced the Riverfly Monitoring Programme of the River Meon This is taking place in the village and in sites towards the sewage works. The main site is just upstream of the sewage works, plus there are three other ad hoc sites.
Frank Moffat has kindly allowed us to use his rainfall stats for 2010 to 2023. These are taken at his house in Workhouse Lane. The stats for January and February 2014 are very significant. This is when we had our last very wet period and significant localised flooding.
A Successful Morning Planting Trees Beside the River Meon at the Sewage Plant Andrew Hughes organised a willing group of helpers to successfully plant a number of trees and whips along the River Meon adjacent to the Sewage Plant. These will not only help shield the view of the plant, but will provide a good habitat for various creatures. A big thank you to Bereleigh for allowing the use of their land.
Four members of the East Meon Nature Group attended a Riverfly Monitoring training day at Warnford on Friday. They will be monitoring the River Meon, downstream of the village, once a month throughout the year for a key selection of riverflies. The results will give an indication of the health of the river. The data will go into the Riverfly Partnership website database and will be used for research as well as alerting the Environment Read more…
The Coombe Road winterbourne (seasonal stream) is now in full flow again. It has had a strange topsy-turvy year. It stopped in early summer, started again in the wet late July and August. It stopped briefly in the dry September, but is now in full flow again. It usually stops in late spring and starts again mid to late autumn.
It may be the mild autumn, or the strange weather year, but butterflies are still on the move. This is despite some very very heavy rain and thunderous showers. Despite this a number of butterflies still manage to come out of shelter when the sun shines again. Viewed in the last two weeks: red admirals, large whites, small whites, peacocks, red admirals and brimstones. Brimstone
The weekly monitoring of butterflies for the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme on the Hyden Hill transect has just been completed for 2023. The numbers of butterflies were up nearly 300 on last years results.