Up, up and away ... again!

Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve, Wednesday 18th September 2019

How can we have been up, up and away again?

Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve whilst not as flat as a pancake is not remotely hilly, so how can we have had to go up?

Read on, all will be revealed.

This was our second out of the county experience of the season as we popped just over the Shropshire - Staffordshire border to visit this reserve a little south west of junction 2 of the M54. The reserve is owned and managed by Wolverhampton City Council. Soon after arriving we met the warden and his assistant who welcomed us to the site.

As always, having met in the car park, we took some time to get ready for the day ahead. One member got fed up of waiting and went off to explore the reserve's huge compost heap.

What was he looking for?

Pseudoscorpions. These are tiny arachnids that look a bit like a scorpion but without the tail that contains the sting. Most of the species are less than 3mm long; searching for them is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but needles are much bigger.

Did he find one?

No.

When everyone was ready we moved away from the car park and along the side of a woodland.

Peeping around the edge of an oak leaf was a forest bug.

Photograph: David Williams

And resting on another oak leaf was a hoverfly, Myathropa florea.

On the other side of the track in a small copse by a field hedge we spotted a spindle with its characteristic pink fruits.

Photograph: David Williams

The warden's assistant presented us with two fungi that she had found. The first was a velvet shield, Pluteus umbrosus.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Turning the fungus over you can see distinctively coloured gill edges.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

The second was an eathstar.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

One of the highlights of the reserve is an ancient yew which, it is claimed, is about 2000 years old. Here it is.

I do not know how they aged the tree but it is an impressive sight which, unfortunately, is not that evident from this photograph. We can only imagine what events it must have witnessed over its lifespan - it certainly puts our short time into perspective.

Accompanying us as we walked alongside the wood was a speckled wood butterfly which had clearly seen better days, but it was soldiering on.

At long last we were coming to the end of this initial track at the side of the wood and we reached the pool.

Photograph: David Williams

At the corner where the track we had been following met the lake there were some bird feeders. A great tit was pleased to receive some free nourishment from this fast food restaurant.

We made our way along the grassy path following the eastern edge of the pool.

A green shield bug and a sepsid fly were spotted on a clump of nettles.

Photograph: David Williams

And a little later the large mirid bug Pantilius tunicatus which is usually found at this time of the year on alder, hazel and birch. On this occasion it was sunbathing on a bramble leaf.

Photograph: David Williams

On the subject of bramble we noticed this peculiar growth on a leaf:

Was it a gall?

I do not think so, it looks like a hazel catkin, or similar, that has just happened to find a hole in the leaf and poked through.

Galls were found, however, on an oak. Here is one of them, a Ramshorn gall, so called because of its shape. The gall is caused by a gall wasp Andricus aries.

Other finds along this stretch of the path were a lily beetle:

Photograph: David Williams

And a female common earwig.

Photograph: David Williams

The shape of the "pincers" at the end of the tip of the abdomen are used to distinguish the sexes. The female's are fairly straight as can be seen from above, but are curved in almost a semicircle in the males.

Time was marching on and we were nowhere near our chosen spot for lunch - the remains of the mill after which the site is named. We needed to get a move on!

We turned off the grassy path into some woodland at the end of the pool. The abundance of yews here caused some to pause to search for a rare spider whose name I cannot remember. It remains rare as we did not find it.

The route again took us past the edge of the pool

Pausing at some poolside vegetation we saw the large hoverfly Volucella inanis. Unfortunately it was too flighty for us to photograph but we did manage to snap a rather more slow moving creature, a weevil, which we believe is Rhinocus pericarpius.

Photograph: John Martin

After this stop we made our way to the lunch spot at top speed (for us).

Refreshed we looked at the remains of the mill.

Clear as day?

Fortunately there was an information board close by to explain what we were looking at.

In case you cannot read what it says, here is a transcription: "This was an overshot mill, meaning water fell onto the wheel in order for it to turn. It is believed that the mill would have served local farms for the grinding of their corn for flour. Some of the water from the mill also fed into the large pool in the wooded area of the reserve."

Nearby were the remains of a well:

Again there was an information board which stated "This well was fed from water overflowing from the Mill pool through a pipe under the ground. When the well became full this would overflow into the small ponds in front of you. Water would have been drawn from the well by means of a hand pump mounted on top. This well could have supplied the stables and pigsties adjacent to the mill."

We continued on the path from the mill site around a small wooded area. At this point one of the group told us that he had got permission from the warden to fly his drone and take some aerial photographs. As he was going to do this in the first area we had visited he took his leave. We would have to wait to see the results.

An alder spittle bug, Aphropohora alni, was found close to the mill remains. It posed nicely for a photograph.

Photograph: David Williams

Nearby a hoverfly, Eristalis pertinax was relaxed enough to be snapped.

The River Penk was crossed using the footbridge rather than the ford.

This brought us to a meadow. Realising how warm it had got we had to stop, for some to enjoy the late summer sunshine and heat, and others to search the area.

A couple of interesting finds were made. The first was a small red beetle that is a member of the ladybird family. Not one of the larger species with which we are generally fairly familiar, but one of the what are known as the "inconspicuous ladybirds". This one is Coccidula rufa.

Photograph: David Williams

The second were a pair of pale tortoise bug, Cassida flaveola.

Photograph: David Williams

Time was pressing on and a return to the cars beckoned. The path on the west side of the pool was taken but this turned out to be rather less interesting as we progressed mainly in shadow from trees. At the end of the pool we paused on the platform to look out over the expanse of water.

Well one or two did, others were more interested in the vegetation that surrounded the platform.

As we passed the yew on our way back several members of the group paid homage to the tree.

Actually when I got closer I noticed that they were measuring its girth. 200 inches I seem to remember was the result of the measurement. I know that girth is important in aging oak trees but I have no idea if this is significant for yew trees.

From here we returned to the car park.

But what of our drone pilot?

Had he managed to get his machine to fly and take photographs?

Yes he had.

First here is a photograph up above the north end of the pool - the platform we were on can be seen at the top of the photograph.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

And a second up above the southern end.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Having taken the photographs and safely landed his drone he went away to his home.

So did the rest of us.

Another lovely day in an interesting site.

My thanks to Wolverhampton City Council for giving us permission to visit the site and do what we enjoy doing. My thanks also to the photographers David Williams, Bob Kemp and John Martin for the use use of their excellent photographs.