Madeley Pit Mounds - Wednesday 17 May 2017
It was raining when we met and it continued to rain whilst we looked around Hills and Blists Hill pit mounds, two of the five mounds that comprise the recently designated Madeley Pit Mounds Local Nature Reserve. It was still raining when we went home.
Fortunately, following a request from Madeley Town Council and the Shropshire Wildlife Trust the focus of the day was on the sites' flora. This was just as well as any self respecting invertebrate had taken one look at the weather and decided to stay in bed.
Here we are inspecting the border of Blists Hill pit mound with a couple of dog walkers wondering what on earth is going on.
We started on Hills Pit Mound. The first challenge was to find a path as it looked impenetrable from the car park. A quick search revealed some steps up the mound that continued as a well formed path over the mound on down the other side.
The trees that covered the mound formed a good high canopy and there was a reasonable mid-level layer but the ground flora was poor, which is not surprising in view of its origin. Overall it was a pleasant wood.
On the way we did manage to tease some insects out of their hiding places:
A Parent bug -
Harlequin ladybird -
And a winter moth larva -
We moved on to Blists Hill pit mound. Initially the woodland was similar to the first mound but this gave way to some good beech woodland before reverting back. We did find some heathland with a few outbreaks of bilberry, some straggly heather and even wavy-hair grass. Interestingly this coincided with the area that clearly the most "social" activity took place, which may in fact have helped it to survive.
We lunched under the not very effective umbrella of an oak tree. The rain got heavier and heavier. We called it a day and went back to the cars.
But on the way we lost our arachnologist. We thought he was in front (he was); he thought he had told us where he was going (he had); but somewhere something went awry and he disappeared. So whilst the others went home to dry out a colleague and I searched for our companion.
It did not take long to find him and we decided to celebrate our reunion with a glass of ale at the All Nations.
We will return to Madeley Pit Mounds later in the year.
Rhos Fidddle SWT Reserve - Wednesday 24 May 2017
What a contrast to the previous week (and our last visit to this site). The sun was shining, there was very little wind and it was hot.
We got ourselves ready then set off, well some of us did, others found the lure of the car park vegetation too hard to resist.
Rhos Fiddle is a large area of upland heath where the sound of birds is usually the only thing that breaks the silence. Today was such a day; skylarks singing, other birds joining in ... then the vacuum sampler was employed.
The noise of this is annoying but it is excellent for extracting animals from the denser vegetation that the normal techniques of sweeping and beating fail to dislodge.
We found clumps of milkwort
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| Photograph: Bob Kemp |
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| Photograph: Bob Kemp |
I have been to this site three or four times before and know there is a pool, but have I ever found it?
No.
So that became the objective. But where is it? Maps were consulted (on a mobile phone, we are nothing if not progressive).
OK, the pool was located, in theory, so the group set off in that theoretical direction. In the meantime a couple had gone off in a different direction so I set off after them.
I eventually caught up with them in the far corner of the site where they regaled me with what they had seen and photographed.
Common lousewort
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| Photograph: Bob Kemp |
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| Photograph: Bob Kemp |
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| Photograph: Bob Kemp |
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| Photograph: Bob Kemp |
On my way back to rejoin the majority of the group I passed a fence post that was its own wild place
Eventually I found the pool. Hooray!
Overall the site was very dry, but not here. It was difficult to get near the pool due to the softness of the ground.
The others were taking afternoon tea a little way away. As I made my way towards them I noticed a movement just in front. I stopped, it stopped. I moved, it moved. I stopped, it stopped.... You get the gist.
Eventually I caught sight of the perpetrator ... a lizard. It kindly allowed me to take some photographs.
I moved on, passing a mound that was covered in polytrichum moss in flower.
I rejoined my colleagues.
Then the adventurous duo returned armed with a peace offering for the spiderman
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| Agalenatea redii - Photograph: Bob Kemp |
On the way we passed stonechats sitting on vantage points
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| Photograph: Bob Kemp |
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| Photograph: Bob Kemp |
My thanks to Shropshire Wildlife Trust for giving us permission to do what we enjoy doing and to Bob Kemp for the additional photographs.
Oswestry Old Racecourse - Sunday 28 May 2017
Our first Sunday outing of the year was to a site which seem to have several names - Racecourse Common, Oswestry Old Racecourse Common, Old Oswestry Racecourse and the one I have used. I have no idea which is the correct one, so apologies to anyone I may have offended by using the wrong name.
Yes, its name is not misleading. It was a racecourse. Used from the early 17th century until the mid-19th by gentlemen of England and Wales. The information board by the car park does not hold back telling us that as well as horses it also brought "large crowds, drinking, gambling and pickpockets".
The site is common land and parts have developed into woodland with wide rides whilst the northern and highest part is open and dominated by bracken with a few patches of heathland.
The car park was large and busy with many people bringing their dogs for a Sunday walk. I tried to get the group to move away to quieter spots but they seemed to be glued to its surrounding vegetation. Here are some of the reasons why.
A Hawthorn shieldbug sunning itself on a rowan.
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| Photograph: Jim Cresswell |
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| Photograph: David Williams |
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| Photograph: Jim Cresswell |
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| Photograph: Jim Cresswell |
Eventually we moved on. About 50 yards, where some picnic tables made a few think about morning coffee.
Here we found a mottled umber caterpillar
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| Photograph: David Williams |
A cocksfoot moth was spotted
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| Photograph: David Williams |
Remembering my photography lessons I tried placing it back in the tree on some leaves but it refused to leave my hand. I pulled it off (they are very sturdy) and placed it on a leaf. It fell to the ground. I found it again and placed it on another leaf - it fell off. This was repeated several times before I found a clump of leaves which supported its weight and took the above photograph.
Cockchafers are well known to moth trappers as they are attracted to the light of the trap. You can hear them approach, watch them enter, then listen to them blundering about in the trap until they settle down. And woe betide you if you are in their flight path as they will just fly into you.
This one was flying nowhere ... thankfully.
A stick was found with a orange jelly like fungus
(Notice how I am learning to take photographs with a more interesting background than a tray or net.)
Lunch was taken with our spider man regretting not packing his drain cover levers so that he could check the drain for cave spiders.
Over lunch we were visited by down-looker flies, Rhagio scolopaceus. They have earned their name by their habit of sitting on vegetation head down.
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| Photograph: Jim Cresswell |
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| Photograph: Jim Cresswell |
This proved to be of great interest with lots of insects, spiders and plants attracting our attention.
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| Crowfoot - Photograph: Jim Cresswell |
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| Cercopis vulnerata - Photograph: Jim Cresswell |
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| Orange tip larva - Photograph: David Williams |
Normally such an attacker would be brushed off. But it had attacked a photographer. And never one to miss the perfect shot he grabbed his camera.
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| Photograph and hand: David Williams |
I had placed my sweep nets and stick close to the pool to have a walk around the area. When I came back I was rather surprised when moving one of my nets to find a frog had taken up residence.
We did move on to the north of the site crossing the road that bisects the common. Here the woodland close to the road gave way to bracken dominated open space as the land gained.
height.
Thoughtfully a seat has been placed at the northern end and highest point which provided some respite as the heat of the day increased.
Nearby a small copper fluttered into view.
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| Photograph: Jim Creswell |
Oswestry Old Racecourse proved to be an excellent site providing plenty of "things" for us to look at as well as glorious views to the east.
My thanks to Shropshire County Council for granting us permission to survey the site and to Jim Cresswell and David Williams for the additional photographs.
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