Four members of East Meon Nature have been trained by the Riverfly Partnership https://www.riverflies.org to carry out surveys of the River Meon to look for specific river flies that indicate the health of the river.
Four monitoring points have been identified on the River Meon, in and downstream of the main village. The main monitoring point is No. 3, where the access is good and the river bottom is suitable for river flies. The other points will be monitored intermittently. All the monitoring points are upstream of the Sewage Works. Another team monitors the river at Drayton, just downstream of the Sewage Works
Full details of the monitoring technique and pictures of the river flies can be seen on the Riverfly Partnership website https://www.riverflies.org.
The picture below shows some of the most curious river flies, these are cased caddis. They make their own protected case using small stones from the river!
