During our recce to Jaujac, I was admiring the river when Fabrizio suddenly shouted “There’s one!”, and lo and behold – a Wallcreeper on the basalt columns! Obviously we had no telephoto lens with us, but I managed to get a through-the-bins photo. Marvelous luck - and the beer actually got opened!!

A really great recce this weekend. We'd been there before, but not for a few years, so wanted to check it out for coach access etc. A great day out - and a birdy surprise for us too!

Last week, Fabrizio bought me this bottle of beer. The running joke/game is that we can only drink the contents once we’ve seen the animal (i.e. after buying the beer – even if we’ve seen this species before)… Off out to the Ardèche Gorge, where we’ve seen Wallcreepers in previous years...

The Ardèche Gorge is a fantastic spot for winter wildlife. The steep south-facing cliffs can trap enough heat for us to see the first Wall Lizards and Egyptian Grasshoppers of the year. They are also favoured spots for the resident Blue Rock Thrushes (here pictured a female).

Some nice early bats about around us. Spectrograms are a bit fuzzy with echoes as we wanted to see what was flying between some old buildings - but the species did not disappoint!

Just had a fantastic online training session with @wildlifeacoustics.com Thanks for the informative course! It’s made me go back and re-look at one of my own Eurasian Beaver recordings from a few years ago. Broadband chomping sounds, plus vocalisations with harmonics. Sound on for (cute!) beavers.

A happy new year to all from us at Merops! What a brisk winter we’ve had in the south of France. But now, the signs of spring are approaching, and we’re already looking forward to seeing all of our visitors on their field courses this coming spring. We can’t wait to see you all soon!

Had a fantastic time at the #BES2025 meeting in Edinburgh, presenting our data from @inaturalist.bsky.social - and catching up with these lovely folks! @g-iossa.bsky.social @sheborg.bsky.social

One fantastic conference down, now over to the BES for more great science!

Some very busy Beavers nearby! Discovered their new worksite on a recent walk with Oscar the cat (our honorary dog...).

Pretty much ready for the #BES2025 @britishecologicalsociety.org annual meeting at Edinburgh. Poster printed and uploaded, and now getting familiar with the Whova portal. Hoping Edinburgh's going to look as magical as in the website picture! www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/bes-...

Was so excited to find the caterpillars to match the butterflies. The Scarce Swallowtail caterpillar was actually found by students tree-beating for insects. We carefully put it back where it came from for it to continue its development.

Really happy that these students got some good recordings. Multiple behaviours (feeding buzzes, social calls), and multiple species at the same time. Plus they leave having learned how to take measurements from spectrograms. Autumn field courses are great for this - lots of bat activity!

Encountered a really nice Cirl Bunting singing on my morning walk the other day. Not the most complex song, but hearing this trill always makes me happy, knowing its scarcity back in the UK. Duly recorded on Merlin @cornellbirds.bsky.social & added to @inaturalist.bsky.social #acoustic #ornithology

Among our camera trap footage from this autumn was this male Wild Boar, near a newly dug wallow adjacent to the river. We’ve not seen this behaviour before, but think he may be scent-marking with his metacarpal glands. Wild Boar continue to fascinate! @chantallyons.bsky.social

A really special moment thermal-imaging with our last group of the season. There were 18 of us on the bridge and everyone was absolutely silent. We could even hear the Otters crunching their prey below as everyone watched on the tablet that the thermal camera streams to.

We always hope the students gain a lot of ecological knowledge in our field courses... However, we suspect a highlight might have been the "splitting an apple in half with your bare hands" technique showcased at our picnic in the Causse Méjean. Here I am presenting the apple in the customary way…

A fantastic (and very sunny!) week in autumn. Beautiful colours in the trees, great wildlife, and enthusiastic students. A really lovely finale to this year's autumn field season.

For our second excursion with MSc students from the University of St Andrews, we headed to the #Camargue. First exploring the freshwater reedbeds to the north, then the southern salt marshes where we saw plenty of waders and Greater Flamingos. @mikemwebster.bsky.social #birds #ornithology #ecology

We spent a day with staff and MSc students from the University of St Andrews to explore the rugged uplands of the Causse Méjean. We had extraordinary views of the gorges from above the clouds, found some fantastic plants, and were lucky enough to spot 3 species of vulture. @mikemwebster.bsky.social

Day 2 with MSc students from the University of St Andrews, and they are trialling their field projects. Microphones have been placed to record meadow soundscapes, audio has been reviewed from bat detectors, and model butterflies have been deployed to investigate predation. @mikemwebster.bsky.social

A great first day with our visitors from the University of St Andrews. We’ve had a drone demonstration and toured the local habitats while looking for inspiration for field projects. Highlights included plenty of invertebrates, and some amazing #fungi. @mikemwebster.bsky.social

Here at Merops, both Fabrizio and Sophie are keen photographers and are also happy to help those wanting to improve heir skills. We both use Canon EOS, so if any staff or students bring a compatible Canon body and want to trial a macro or telephoto lens in the field, then we can help!

More #macro from Merops! We’ve done some #moth trapping, and while the moths are warming up prior to release, they remain still enough for some close-up #photography. Here are some of their portraits. L: 𝘔𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘢, Double-spot Brocade and R: 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, Rosy-striped Knot-Horn

On our field courses, we often tend to share photographs of the larger animals around, however, some of the smaller organisms are just as stunning. With #macro-photography we can really see the details of the invertebrates present here in the autumn. #macro #photography #entomology #arachnid #insect

It’s autumn and some great #mushrooms are appearing in the woodlands here. We’ve found several clusters of Sulphur Tuft (𝘏𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦), which happens to fluoresce under UV light. Cue a nocturnal trip into the woods with a UV torch to see its amazing green glow. #mycology #fungi #mushroom

We’d like to say a big thank you to our visitors from @sheffielduni.bsky.social. We had a great time hosting you all this week, and were impressed by everybody’s enthusiasm and dedication to their field projects. We wish you the best of luck with the rest of your studies! @luketdunning.bsky.social

While here with us, students from @sheffielduni.bsky.social learned various survey skills, including #moth trapping. After identifying their findings in the morning, they were back out in the meadows and woods gathering data for their independent ecology projects. @luketdunning.bsky.social

With staff and students from @sheffielduni.bsky.social, we explored the Causse Méjean, an upland area famous for its rugged habitats, surrounded by deep gorges frequented by #vultures. We were lucky enough to spot Bearded Vultures, plus shrikes and some great #lepidoptera. @luketdunning.bsky.social

Yesterday we took our visitors from @sheffielduni.bsky.social to explore the Camargue wetlands. We observed the differences between the freshwater areas to the north and the brackish areas to the south. Highlights of our day were Western Swamp Hens and Moorish Geckos. @luketdunning.bsky.social

Day two with @sheffielduni.bsky.social, and we’ve been exploring field techniques. Kick sampling, GPS use, plus plant and terrestrial invertebrate surveys. Highlights were more mantises, Saddle-backed Bush Crickets, plus spotting crayfish in the river. @luketdunning.bsky.social

A great first afternoon with our visitors from the University of Sheffield. We explored the local habitats, seeing some fantastic autum wildlife including the Mediterranean Conehead Mantis. Other highlights were large Orthoptera, butterflies, and Colchicum autumn Crocuses. @luketdunning.bsky.social

Absolutely. A really important paper here. Fieldwork 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 be safe and inclusive for everyone.

Nice to see our company logo sitting on the wires just outside the house!

Going back over some camera trap data from earlier this summer and finding I completely sympathise with this Wild Boar. Who wouldn't want a swim in the river when it's still 29 degrees after 8pm!

I've always wanted to see these spiders! Such a happy day spent in the Cévennes mountains. Plus Wasp Spiders, loads of amazing upland Orthoptera, and to top it off, a family of European Rollers! The Cévennes never cease to amaze.

With summer well underway, we explored some cooler habitats in the Cévennes mountains. At a fantastic peat bog we found lots of Round-leaved Sundew, plus Marsh Gentians, which are the larval food plant of Alcon Large Blue butterflies. Other highlights were Wasp Spiders amongst the shrubs.

Planning a trip to the UK and thought it might be possible to go to #ASABWinter2025 and #BES2025 - but they overlap by two days! Anyone going to both, or have suggestions (i.e. skip day 2 of ASAB), or run madly between both like the Vicar of Dibley trying to go to all the Christmas lunches..?

We’re looking back at our fantastic spring field season, and would like to say a huge thank you to all involved: staff and students from all of our visiting universities, and especially to Chris and Alison at the Château du Fraissinet. Thanks to everyone for making these field courses so special.

So happy to see this Roe Deer mother and fawn on the camera traps. Oh - that little jump!

We spent a fantastic week hosting @stir.ac.uk for their Mediterranean field course. We’d like to say thank you to all involved, especially the students for their engagement and enthusiasm with their projects. Good luck with the rest of your studies! @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

Running ecology field courses - except there are cats. Last autumn we were dismayed to find two 10-day old kittens abandoned in a dustbin. They are now 9 months old, doing really well and have graduated to becoming fully integrated members of team Merops! @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social #EcologyCats

One student project from @stir.ac.uk involved assessing the behaviour of Pumpkinseed Sunfish in response to intrusion. Larger and smaller “males” approached the nest and the students monitored the nest-owner's response using our underwater cameras. @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

With the warm weather, there were many butterflies on the wing and students from @stir.ac.uk designed projects to survey their habitat preferences. Shady and sunlit meadows, plus an avenue of lavender in flower. They saw a real variety of species. @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

We took staff and students from @stir.ac.uk to the Causse Méjean to experience this unique site. We had an impressive vulture fly-by as well as seeing a Booted Eagle carrying a lizard. On to the Przewalski Horse breeding area, where we had great views. @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

We spent day 2 with @stir.ac.uk exploring the Camargue. We were lucky to see 7 species of heron including Squacco Herons and even Little Bitterns in the reedbeds. Further south, we saw the famous flamingos and had great views of a European Pond Terrapin @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

Always exciting to see the delicate first moments of emerging adult cicadas.

We spent a great week hosting students from the University of Nottingham and would like to say thank you to all involved in making this a successful field course. Thanks to the students for your enthusiasm, and good luck with the rest of your studies! @uniofnottingham.bsky.social

Really lucky to record this wild boar sounder with students from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social The two mums just want to use the spa in peace, but playing in the mud is just too much fun for the piglets.

We spent a great day exploring the Causse Méjean with students from the University of Nottingham. As well as plenty of vultures, we spotted Pyramidal, Lizard and Woodcock Orchids. The highlights were really good views of the Przewalski’s Horses, including a 10-day old foal that was galloping around.