Merops Field Studies

We’re off! We’d like to thank all our followers here, but have decided to leave this platform as we feel it no longer conforms with our ethos. You can find us on Facebook: Merops Field Centre Instagram: @meropsfieldstudies Linkedin: Merops Bluesky: @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social

We’d like to wish all of our followers and guests a happy new year for 2025. Even in the winter, nature is still thriving here in the south of France. We enjoy watching these seasonal changes, and look forward welcoming our first field courses of the year in the coming spring.

Re-visiting some of the fantastic #orchids we saw on our field trips this year. With our groups, we saw 24 species, including Woodcock, Burnt-tip and Violet Bird’s Nest Orchids, plus the very localised 𝘖𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘪, which is endemic to the Grands Causses.

We’ve been very lucky with our camera trapping this year, and students have got some great footage of a family of Eurasian Otters while on their field courses with us. We’ve seen foraging and sprainting, plus this female with two cubs. @StirUni @sheffielduni @univofstandrews

Each of our autumn groups were lucky enough to see Praying Mantises, plus a selection of Western Saddle Bush-Crickets, Wasp Spiders & Radiated Wolf Spiders. The latter of these is well-known for its parental care, first carrying her egg-case, then carrying the babies on her back.

We saw some great invertebrates on our autumn field courses. While it might seem that things are winding down for the winter, this is the time of year when we see the largest invertebrates. They have spent all year growing and are now competing their life cycles.

Every one of you helped to make these field courses so special for everyone. We’re taking a break over the winter, and are already looking forward to welcoming our spring field courses in the coming year. @LukeTDunning @MarionGermain15 @Chomicki_G @mikemwebster @ScanningScience

We’ve had a fantastic autumn field season and would like to say a big thank you to all of the students, their lecturers, and all of our collaborators – not least Chris and Alison Burns at the Chateau du Fraissinet. @sheffielduni @durham_uni @univofstandrews @CumbriaUni

While here for their autumn field course, students from @CumbriaUni carried out some fascinating projects, studying the diversity of aquatic invertebrates, fungi in different woodlands, and the effects of ephemeral waterfalls on wall communities to name but a few @ScanningScience

Coypu were brought to France in the 19th century for their fur. They have now spread significantly and are a serious pest, eating roots and destabilising river banks. Unlike the Beaver, they have a long rat-like tail, more pointed head, a white muzzle and long white whiskers.

While on fieldtrips with us, students have had great success camera trapping this autumn. Here is some footage captured by our visitors from @univofstandrews. From one camera, we have two native European Beavers feeding, then later an invasive Coypu for comparison. @mikemwebster

We’d like to say a big thank you to our guests from @CumbriaUni for a wonderful field course. We enjoyed hosting you and showing you the natural history of the area, and were excited to see the real diversity of projects. Good luck with the rest of your studies! @ScanningScience

We're glad you enjoyed your field trip with us - and we had a great time hosting you here too. Really happy to work with you all and to show you the fantastic natural history of the area.

Yesterday we took our guests from @CumbriaUni for a trip along the Ardèche Gorge. We visited the famous Pont d’Arc natural bridge and took a hike through the garrigue. Highlights were some Red Cage Fungi, plus the resident feral goats that frequent the gorge. @ScanningScience

We spent a fantastic day exploring the Camargue with @CumbriaUni. Very atmospheric skies in the morning, with lots of wildlife spotted. Highlights were migratory birds passing through, including this Wryneck, Common Cranes and the ever-present Greater Flamingos. @ScanningScience

We had really good fortune with our thermal imaging evening with @CumbriaUni. We spotted 3 Beavers, plus a bonus Coypu. The Beavers are very well insulated, so we tend to just see their eyes and ears glowing whereas the Coypu lose a lot more heat from their heads @ScanningScience

Our guests from @CumbriaUni have been getting stuck in to survey techniques. We’ve used our drone to map meadow vegetation, then carried out plant and invertebrate surveys. Invertebrate highlights were this beautiful Tortoise Beetle and Buffalo Leaf Hopper. @ScanningScience

GIS treasure hunt, drone flights, equipment training and independent project preparation @CumbriaUni with @MeropsField #GoTeam #GPS !!

Introductions complete for @CumbriaUni by @MeropsField Praying mantis joined us for lunch. Drones, camera and sampling design tomorrow... Not a bad view...

A really great first day welcoming staff and students from @CumbriaUni to the south of France. We kicked off with habitat tours and a demonstration of our kit before project planning. Highlights of our walks were this Spiny Toad and recent evidence of Beavers. @ScanningScience