From the beautiful to the stinky to the deadly poisonous, appreciate the variety of fungi that can be seen when you are out and about in Hampshire. Photographer Rosemary Webb will show us that fungi are not only amazing organisms but also play a vital role in nature to recycle matter.

Doors open Froyle Village Hall 7pm for talk to start at 7.30pm. All welcome, teas/coffee, entrance £3 for non members, members free.

Some text below is copied in part from ‘your guide to fascinating UK fungi’. They come in many different forms such as moulds, mildew, yeasts and mushrooms. They also come in a huge variety of sizes – from microscopic mould spores to the massive silent organisms which live in the soils beneath our feet.
Fungi can be found in just about any habitat but are mainly found on land. Many live in our soils or on decaying organic matter, such as leaf litter, dead wood or animal droppings. Wilder spaces, where we haven’t disturbed the soil or tidied up too much, are a good place to go on a fungi hunt. These include ancient or old woodlands, grasslands and some parks and gardens.
Why are fungi important? Put simply, without fungi, there would be no circle of life. The different types play different roles but quite a lot of them help to break down plants, dead animals and droppings so nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus are recycled into healthy soils. Healthy soil means healthy plants, which in turn provide food for insects, animals, birds and us.

Updated on Thursday 10th August: the Friday sessions are now fully booked but there are spaces remaining for Sunday.

Family fun –join us for a 1h dipping session on Friday 11th and Sunday 13th August to see what underwater creatures we can find in the wildlife pond near Gid Lane, Upper Froyle (see location plan).  Children will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult.  All equipment will be provided and numbers are limited so it is essential to book by emailing info@froylewildlife.co.uk, stating preference for 10 am or 11.15 am session.

Find out what flies after dark? Join us on Sunday 16th July, for a bat and moth evening jointly with Alton Natural History Society meeting at Froyle Church then on to the Wildlife Pond area, starting 8.30pm until late. Warm clothing and torch are useful and do leave or arrive at the pond area at whatever time you wish. There are nearly 2000 species of moth that occur in Hampshire. Moths and butterflies are useful indicator species for the health of our natural environment.

Please note that weather conditions greatly affect the number of moths flying so we hope for a warm evening, ideally with some cloud and not too windy. Some of the larger hawkmoths may not arrive until after 11pm.

What did we see? Under the trees of Gid Lane we soon started hearing and seeing bats with good aerobatic display of several Pipistrelles (both Common and Soprano) and the characteristic zipping noise as they found insects to eat. We also heard Noctule and bats from the Myotis family. At the wildlife pond area the temperature started at 14C and went down to 12C, so it was good that we saw as many moths as we did. The list of 19 species included Black Arches, Mother of Pearl, Nut-tree Tussock, Swallow-tailed and Ghost Moths.

Call in anytime between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 8th July to visit the wildlife pond and meadow, near Gid Lane, Upper Froyle. There should be plenty to see especially if it’s a sunny day.
Members of Froyle Wildlife will be on hand to assist with identification of wildflowers, dragonflies’ and butterflies. Wildflower species to look out for include; knapweed, lady’s bedstraw, sainfoin, self heal, purple loosestrife, water figwort and bird’s-foot trefoil. Last year on the ‘drop-in’- day 15 species of butterfly and 8 species of dragonfly/damselfly were noted; ladybirds, hoverflies, bees and grasshoppers were also seen. No need to book, anyone can just pop in and see what you can spot.

How did the day turn out? The weather forecast was unsettled at best so it was with some foreboding that we packed up the car in the morning to go to the pond area and meadow near Gid Lane. We had barely finished setting up the gazebo and display boards when the heavens opened and the rain poured down accompanied by thunder and lightning – we regretted not putting the gazebo sides on. Fortunately after two and a half hours the rain ceased and we had our first two visitors who were Swiss and were on route hiking from Winchester to Canterbury.
Gradually a few more visitors arrived as the weather warmed up. The sun also brought the insects out, the most numerous and colourful were the butterflies with 17 species noted including Small Copper, Brown Argus, Small Tortioseshell and Painted Lady, the latter species being migrants from North Africa. Other creatures spotted included Dark Bush-cricket, Roesel’s Bush- cricket, 14-spot Ladybird, Tawny Longhorn beetles, Spotted Longhorn beetles and Dock Bug.

Join us for a walk on Tuesday 16th May 2pm – 4pm at Noar Hill SSSI when we hope to see several species of butterfly, including the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary. This 20 hectare nature reserve, managed by Hampshire Wildlife Trust, was originally formed by medieval chalk workings. Over hundreds of years the mounds and hollows were colonised by a great variety of beautiful chalk downland flowers now rare in the wider countryside.

Meet there 2pm or preferably share lifts from Froyle Village Hall leaving at 1.30pm. as there is very limited roadside parking, OS grid reference SU737321 near Charity Farm. Note that warm weather is needed so the date may change at short notice.

Short summary after the walk. We were delighted to see 9 species of butterfly including the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary on our walk at Noar Hill. With the sun shining most of the time, Holly Blues flitted about the bushes and on short vegetation we caught sight of Dingy Skipper (an unfortunate name for a lovely small butterfly). Then we spotted something buzzing around our feet -the solitary bee Osmia Bicolor. We observed this bee flying with small pieces of debris to put on its nest for camouflage where the eggs are laid in an empty snail shell.

Michelle, Andrew and Charles sent us a few photos that they had taken.
We eventually found several Duke of Burgundy perching on cowslips after only having fleeting glimpses of them flying past earlier. The caterpillar food plants are primrose and cowslip mainly on chalk grassland and preferably in sheltered locations. Other butterflies seen on the day were Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small Blue, Comma and Red Admiral while one person also spotted Green Hairstreak and Speckled Wood. Many of these species can also be seen in Froyle if you look out for them on a sunny day

We welcome Peter Eeles to take us on a tour of Froyle’s butterflies, together with a glimpse into the hidden world of their immature stages by considering their egg, caterpillar and chrysalis. He will also discuss the habitats that suit each species and give a sense of how to attract butterflies to your garden by considering both nectar sources for the adult butterflies and foodplants for the caterpillar.

Doors open Froyle Village Hall 7pm for talk to start at 7.30pm. All welcome, teas/coffee, entrance £3 for non members, members free.

Butterflies have been a lifelong interest of Peter, who spent his childhood roaming the Cotswolds in search of its hidden natural wonders. In 2002 he combined the skills applied in his day job, his passion for butterflies and his interest in photography to create the acclaimed UK Butterflies website that has fostered a thriving community of butterfly enthusiasts, later adding the Dispar website as its publishing arm. An ardent supporter of the Butterfly Conservation charity, Peter is chairman of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight branch. In 2016 he created Butterfly Conservation’s Garden Butterfly Survey website and was presented with the ‘Marsh Award for the Promotion of Lepidoptera Conservation’ at Butterfly Conservation’s AGM and Members’ Day. Published in 2019, his book about the Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies illustates the life stages from ova, larva, chrysalis to adult of all the British species.

Do come along to a talk on Tuesday 15th November about the life and habits of a Hazel dormouse.  Dave Williams will tell us about their nests and nest boxes, habitat, food requirements and breeding cycle.  Also find out how to identify Hazel nuts that have been opened by a dormouse, a sure way to know if dormice are present.

All welcome, doors open Froyle Village Hall 7pm for talk to start at 7.30pm, entrance free for members, £3 non-members, teas and coffee.

Dave Williams has been working with dormice for almost twenty years. He is currently chairman of the Surrey Dormouse Group (SDG), which he started when he was Mammal project officer at Surrey Wildlife Trust. Now retired he continues to work with dormice and the SDG.

Dormouse photographs by Dave Williams.

Do join us for a talk on Tuesday 25th October by Kim Boog about the Barn Owl Project Hampshire and Bird of Prey Hospital. We’ll hear about the perils barn owls face in the modern world, rescuing rehabilitation and release, habitats and nest boxes. If you’ve never seen a Barn Owl or Tawny Owl up close before this is your chance as Kim will be bringing two of her rescues (which are unsuitable for release).

All welcome, Froyle Village Hall doors open 6.30pm, AGM pictorial review starts at 7pm, Barn Owl talk starts 7.30pm, entrance free for members, £3 non-members, teas and coffee.

Update 14th August: Cancelled due to low water level. Apologies but the water level in the pond has dropped substantially over the last few weeks and it will not be possible to carry out the pond dipping sessions. The problem is that the edge of the pond is now quite far from the water (which is really low) and therefore it wouldn’t be safe to dip or even possible.

Family fun –join us for a 1h dipping session on Friday 19th and Sunday 21st August to see what underwater creatures we can find in the wildlife pond near Gid Lane, Upper Froyle (see location plan).  Children will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult.  All equipment will be provided and numbers are limited so it is essential to book by emailing info@www.froylewildlife.co.uk, stating preference for 10 am or 11.15 am session.

Join us for an afternoon walk 2pm on Thursday 4th August 2022 at Old Winchester Hill, National Nature Reserve for flowers, views and butterflies. Most of our 3 mile, 2h route along the hilltop is relatively flat but it should be worthwhile to descend the steep ‘south slope’ where the chalkhill blue can sometimes be seen in huge numbers on sunny days. The flower rich grasslands have developed on the thin chalky soils that are low in nutrients, and prevent vigorous species from dominating the finer herbs.

Meet 2pm at the public car park OS Grid ref SU646213, about 2km south of A32 at West Meon or share lifts from Froyle Village Hall leaving at 1.20pm. For more information about this NNR, a leaflet can be downloaded as a .pdf from Natural England.

Note: The A32 is currently closed at Farrigdon so look for alternative routes to travel from Froyle.