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…
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.
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…
The toad patrol continues to find and move toads across Coombe Road. To date this spring, 17/03/21, we have moved 376 toads, with the added bonus of 74 newts. Unfortunately we also found 14 squashed toads and 9 squashed newts, but these numbers would be much higher if the patrols were not out. One of the things we have been seeing recently is that a number of the female toads have a male toads on Read more…
After six cold and dry evenings, the weather changed on Wednesday 3rd March to damp and misty with light rain and a mild 9C. The toad patrols had not found any toad movement at all in the previous six evenings, then suddenly it was all go. The patrol moved 111 toads across the road with one fatality, it being squashed by a passing vehicle. Thirty three of the toads were females, a much bigger proportion Read more…
A sign that spring is now well on the way are the bright yellow star shaped flowers of lesser celandine (ficaria verna) that are appearing all over the Parish, but most noticably at the moment in the bottom of hedges. This plant should not be confused with greater celandine (Chelidonium majus), which is a different plant altogether. As one of the first flowers to appear after winter, they provide an important nectar source for queen Read more…
The East Meon Nature Group has started a regular early evening patrol on Coombe Road to monitor the number of toads and other amphibians, and help them across the road. This will last until the spawning season finishes in a couple of months. They are moving to their spawning pond which is situated just to the east of Coombe Road and north of Duncombe Wood. In previous years there has often been a toad massacre Read more…
There are a number of large flocks of fieldfares in the fields and meadows around East Meon at the moment. You can here their chak-chak-chak calls as they move from hedges to trees to fields. They are winter visitors from Europe, where the weather is generally much colder and harsher than it is here. They eat mostly worms or insects on the ground, but you may see them in your garden occasionally. Photo by Semen Borisov on Unsplash.
Spring is definitely on it’s way. The snowdrops beside the pond at Lower House Farm, Frogmore are looking a treat. This is one of the best shows of snowdrops in the Parish.
East Meon Garden Club and East Meon Nature Group are hosting a talk (via Zoom) on 15 February 2021 at 6.30 pm. This will be presented by Chris Powles, who is the Chair of Kirtlington Wildlife & Conservation Society, together with his brother, Stephen, they will present a little on hedgehog ecology before going on to explain why and how we should create hedgehog highways. Stephen is a wildlife photographer and cameraman. We now know that Read more…