It's not a sting in the tail

Underhill Farm, Pant, Wednesday 3rd July 2019

We were a little tardy leaving. And as always happens when you are running late the traffic seemed against us with slow moving this and that getting in the way. But by the time we reached Knockin and mourned the passing of the Olde Knockin Shoppe I thought we were going to make it on time.

How wrong I was as we came to the sign declaring "ROAD CLOSED".

A diversion was provided which we took but we ended up on the outskirts of Oswestry before turning south to Pant. By now we were very late. However we got there eventually.

When we asked one of the others who had come from Telford if he had been held up he replied "What Diversion?".

He had come a different way from Knockin and was oblivious to the road closure. Lucky him!

Underhill Farm as suggested by the name nestles at the foot a hill - in this case Llanymynech Hill, which is the site of Llanymynech Rocks Nature Reserve. From where we parked we had a good view of the quarry face.

The owner of the farm met us and gave us a brief outline of the history and layout of the farm and what he is trying to achieve in the way he manages it. Unfortunately recent events have not helped his cause with Severn Trent driving a new water main through his land causing havoc and devastation across a wide swathe of land.

The photograph below gives a glimpse of how Severn Trent finished the job. Far from ideal leaving the owner with the problem of how best to restore the land.

In addition his tenant had cut the meadow early causing more frustration.

However it gave one of our group the chance to exercise his photographic imagination.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

In addition to a range of old buildings there was a range of facilities available to us: a picnic area; a sheltered area; a kitchen with a refrigerator and kettle and, joy of joys, a toilet. No need to nip behind a tree - Bliss!

We were taken through the entrance to view the facilities:

At the end of the path on the left of the buildings was a 19th century hay wain which will, all being well, be restored.

This again brought out the "artist" in our photographer:

Photograph: Bob Kemp

For those of you not hankering after the days of yore here it is in colour.

Close to the hay wain we found a Ringlet butterfly living up to its name with the row of "rings" along the edge of its wing.

Whilst close by a Harlequin ladybird had buried its head ostrich-like in a thistle.

We meandered to the recently mown meadow and inspected the hedgerow and dense marginal vegetation.

The margin harboured several Pyramidal orchids

Photograph: David Williams

Amongst the insects we found in this area was the larva of a Peacock butterfly:

Photograph: David Williams

A wasp with an extremely long ovipositor (no it is not a sting) which has tentatively been identified as Gasteruption jaculator:

Photograph: David Williams

Despite the wasp looking pretty distinctive there are lots of wasps that look similar! The wasp will inspect nest holes of solitary bees and wasps and if the conditions are right, insert its ovipositor into the nest hole and lay its own egg next to the egg of the host. The larva of the wasp on hatching will devour the larvae of the hosts and any food stored.

A 14-spot ladybird larva:

Photograph: David Williams

A Ruddy darter dragonfly:

And, finally, a Forest bug nymph.

Photograph: David Williams

A leisurely lunch was taken, quite late by my standards, at the picnic tables (although one or two had succumbed already).

Refreshed we moved into the field occupied by about a dozen sheep.

Photograph: David Williams

This field contained a couple of pools which were very quiet except for a Comma butterfly that posed on the leaf of a bur-reed.

The sun was beating down, the temperature was soaring and the energy of one or two or three members of the group was flagging ….

Restored after a brief rest we moved onto a third field.

Here we found a tiny Ant damsel bug nymph.

Photograph: David Williams

In this field a small sheet of metal had been placed on the grass. Reptiles are sometimes found under such a sheet, but more often than not it is ants and occasional amphibians. When this one was lifted there were slow worms underneath.

Photograph: David Williams

What a wonderful end to the day.

My thanks to Steve Evison for allowing us to visit his farm and Gareth Egarr of Shropshire Wildlife Trust for suggesting the site and providing the contact. My thanks also to the photographers David Williams and Bob Kemp for allowing me to use their photographs.

Steve Evision is involved in running two organisations that bring people and nature closer together. If you are interested you can find more information at the following two websites:

• https://nearlywildcamping.org/
• https://www.nearlywild.org/