Butterflies
Big Butterfly Count – 16 July to 8 August
Can you help with the Big Butterfly Count in 2021. Please go to the Big Butterfly Count website at https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org for more details.
Butterflies
Silver-washed Fritillary Spotted in Hen Wood
The first silver-washed fritillary I have seen this year was spotted flying along one of the wide rides in Hen Wood today. It is one of the larger butterfly species in the UK. It needs fairly open woodland to thrive.
Summer Flowers
White Helleborine Spotted in Duncombe Wood
This white helleborine orchid (Cephalanthera damasonium) was spotted next to the main footpath, leading to Small Down, in Duncombe Wood. It is found mostly in beechwoods on chalk in this area. After seeding it can be eight years before it shows a stem, and up to another two to three years before it flowers.
Summer Birds
Swifts Have Arrived Back in East Meon
Swifts have arrived back in East Meon. They have travelled all the way from south of the Sahara Desert in Africa. Their screeching and swooping is one of the real indicators of summer. Due to our cold and miserable spring they are quite late arriving this year.
Signs of Spring
Solomon’s Seal is flowering in the Woods
Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum multiforum) is now flowering in great profusion in the local woods. This is the wild variety and not one of the many cultivated varieties. With all the recent rains and slightly warmer weather there are many wild flower varieties starting to flower.
EM Nature Video
East Meon Nature – Video Presentation
Click on the link below to view the East Meon Nature video presentation given at the Annual Parish Assembly meeting on 26/04/21. You must click on the ‘blog post’ to get to the active link: East Meon Nature Video
Eco Problems
The Pond at Lower House Farm has Turned Green
The pond at Lower House Farm has turned green. A little while ago it had a good amount of frogspawn inside it. Is this blue/green algae? Investigations are on going.
Signs of Spring
Cuckoo Flowers are Blooming
Cuckoo flowers ( cardamine pratensis) are blooming in fields, hedgerows and the edges of woods, but where are the cuckoos? One reason they are called cuckoo flowers is that they bloom in April and May when the cuckoos return from Africa. However cuckoos are quite rare in East Meon these days, as they are getting rarer throughout the country. This is due to a number of possible reasons that are still being studied. The cuckoo Read more…
Signs of Spring
Wood Anemones now in Full Flower
Wood anemone (anemone nemorosa), also known as windflower, is now in full flower in a number of woods in the Parish. Duncombe Wood has a very good show. Particularly, it is to be found in ancient and deciduous woodlands. It has a sharp, musky smell.
Signs of Spring
Toothwort in Duncombe Wood
The rather peculiar flower toothwort (lathrarea squamaria) is coming up in Duncombe Wood. They are parasitic on the roots of trees, usually hazel, feeding on their sap. However they must not take too much or the tree will die. They are also known by their county name of ‘corpse flower’ in the belief that such a ghostly plant could only grow from a buried corpse. In fact they do not need any chlorophyll as they Read more…