Mink and Un-Open Access Land - Keith Fowler

Eight of us gathered for the next instalment of “Hunt the Shieldbug” in a small car park off a narrow lane at the start of the path to the Forestry Commission land at Lodge Hill. Three momentous events took place before we left the car park:

1.    An omission was pointed out in my piece about Beckbury;
2.    We attempted to charm the earthworms present;
3.    A slow worm put in an appearance.

As we were dealing with the first two events a slow worm was found in the verge at the side of the car park. Fortunately the paparazzi that hound our every movement were there to capture the moment!

This young lady (we think) was clearly used to the limelight and made no attempt to escape. After signing autographs and smiling for the camera, she slowly made her way back into the undergrowth.

Next, my omission from the report on Beckbury: American Mink.

A mink was spotted whilst on our walk. It was observed twice before noticing the waiting camera and, being camera-shy, disappearing. American mink are a very unwelcome addition to our fauna. It is a fearsome predator and is thought to be one of the factors behind the decline of the Water vole.

My fear of worms is now pretty well publicised. As therapy I attended a Bio.fell Earthworms course and I wish it to be known that I handled three live wriggling worms.

As part of the course we were shown how to charm worms to the surface by vibrating a fork in the ground. One of our group today was also present on the course and proved to be a champion charmer.

The challenge was on. I brought the fork and our champion got to work and proved that there are no worms in the car park.

Eventually we left the car park and made our way up the path to Lodge Hill which is a mixed deciduous/conifer woodland. The walk was pleasant but apart from a small quarry it was not very interesting although we did find a range of species including a Common Lizard. After a while we decided to call it a day and try the Open Access land across the road from the car park. So we returned.

What looks straightforward on a map, i.e. the Open Access land is next to the road, turned out to be anything but on the ground. There was a barbed wire fence between the “Open Access” land and the road making access impossible to all except those equipped with wire-cutters. After a fruitless search for an entry point we gave up and “Plan B” was invoked. Always good to have a Plan B. We moved on to The Lawley.

We lunched in the car park and like most car parks it proved a major source of invertebrate records, especially the verges which were attracting many bees, hoverflies and butterflies, including this Nationally Scarce Andrena labiata. (The bee was released unharmed after being identified and photographed.)

Refreshed and refuelled we made our way up the path on the Lawley. This started with a small wooded area and then opened up into grassland with lots of gorse on the slopes.

In the woodland a longhorn beetle Rhagium mordax found us. It landed on a Sycamore leaf and said “Photograph me”, so we did.

As we ascended the slope the wind grew stronger and colder, so finding a bit of shelter seemed wise. And there was gorse on the lower slopes. And Gorse means – Gorse shieldbugs. Needless to say no Gorse shieldbugs were found but we got plenty of exercise.

Another Invertebrately Challenged Tetrad Day drew to a close. We had not perhaps made the number of records that we would have liked but none the less it was a good day out.

I leave you with a photograph of the view from The Lawley with one of our group in the bottom right hand corner totally engrossed in checking what was in his net rather than enjoying the excellent scenery.

Keith Fowler