Pleasant surprises by Keith Fowler

Wednesday 27th August
After the recent long trips to the south and south-west of the county we were closer to home this week with a visit to Apley Woods. On this occasion we were joined by the Friends of Apley Woods who had invited us to carry out an invertebrate and botanical survey in support of their bid for Wildlife Site status.

We parked and met on Peregrine Way. As we waited for late arrivals it was clear that we had been transported to the Arctic as the cold wind howled down the road with nothing to deflect it. Once again I was forced to root out all the clothes that get abandoned in my car boot to achieve a reasonable comfort level. “It will be warmer in the woods” I was optimistically promised.
Recently a plan has been released for the development of 540 houses on the land between and behind the Maxell works that borders the wood and pool. Naturally the Friends and others are concerned and want to ensure that a suitable buffer area is left between the housing and the woods and pool to ensure minimum impact on the area. You can view the plans at <https://secure.telford.gov.uk/planning/pa-documents-plans-public.aspx?ApplicationNumber=TWC%2F2014%2F0746>. (This link works for me; I hope it does for you!)

In the prevailing overcast conditions the path through the wood was rather gloomy and not much could be disturbed but a couple of beetles were teased from their hiding place in a damp moss covered log.

The meadow area offered a much brighter prospect and so it proved keeping us richly entertained and rewarded until lunch. The meadow is mainly grass but is surrounded by rougher vegetation and trees; within it there is an area that is rich in wild flowers and another that support an ephemeral pool. In addition there are several free-standing mature oaks.

The margin provided us with sights of Dock bugs, Hawthorn shieldbugs and other insects associated with Nettles, Brambles, Docks and so on. When the sun made brief appearances hoverflies and other flies became active.

Moving on to the “wild flower” area, considering the cool weather, this was a hive of activity with plenty of hoverflies, bees and other insects.

From the wild flower area I moved on to the Oaks where I found Fagocyba carri, a yellow leafhopper, which appears not to have been recorded in the county previously. The national distribution map shows that there are currently only 26 records for this species. Although this will not reflect the latest position it does show that this bug is poorly recorded. I do not think it is rare just that recorders are put off by it being a Little Yellow Job which requires effort to identify. 

We gathered for lunch around a handily placed log at the side of the pool. Here we had Pleasant Surprise Number 1. The Friends, who had disappeared, having to attend to other matters, had provided us with cake. An excellent Ginger Shortbread. Thank you it was splendid.

Lunch over, the Friends returned and we looked at what could be found in the vegetation around the edge of the pool. As we inspected some Water mint at the pool edge a male Banded demoiselle settled on an emergent stem.

We circumnavigated the pool finding as we went a Buff ermine caterpillar amongst the Ivy clinging to a poolside tree, a cluster delightfully marked late instar Parent shieldbugs clinging to Birch leaf and an oak tree which was the attention of a number of Buff-tip caterpillars.

Having completed our tour of the pool we made our way up the edge of the meadow where we observed a sapling that had been stripped of most of its leaves by Buff-tip caterpillars.

The area of the ephemeral pool drew my attention. It contained patches Forget-me-not (but no Forget-me-not shieldbugs were evident); a Bistort and Mayweed. I swept this area and had pleasant surprise numbers two and three. The first was an Adonis ladybird, a species I had not seen this year and the red and black Rhopalid bug Corizus hyoscyami. The photograph is of the C. hyoscyami in a glass tube as it flew away when I tried to photograph it “au naturelle”!

The day drew to a close. We gathered at the steps to the meadow for a last reflection and a cup of tea and there I had pleasant surprise number four. I realised that the sun was out and it was now pleasantly warm.

I unzipped my waterproof and fleece to celebrate.

Keith Fowler