Wrekin Forest Volunteers: Bits and Pieces Part 1

19 Aug 2020

Bits and Pieces Part 1

Wednesday, 19th August 2020

It has been a while since I put fingers to keypad and produced one of these reports. Have my creative juices dried up?

To some extent I suppose they have as there have been no Joy of Wildlife outings, which generally form the substance of these reports, to write about.

There has, however, been the odd trip here and there that I can report upon, hence the title of this piece.

In addition I have been sent lost of photographs of interesting animals that have been found in people's gardens or on their own rambles around the countryside.

In early July, on a visit to Bury Ditches, our lichenologist (amongst many other specialities and general knowledge of entomology) spotted this lichen:

Photograph: Bob Kemp

According to Bob "Usnea articulata is arguably one of our largest lichens, growing to over 1m in length. Often draped over twigs, branches and occasionally sand dune grasses, this species is local in Devon and Cornwall but rare elsewhere. It extends into Wales, most frequent in Pembrokeshire, and scattered elsewhere; extending its range slowly it seems. It is VERY sensitive to SO2.

"It was great to discover this in Shropshire but it isn’t the first record. Historical records are limited to two from the 1600’s, one of which was from Walcot Park.

"The photo shows the constricted, thickened, branches “sausages” but it is only about 20cm long. There may be more about, particularly in SW Shropshire."

On a walk besides the River Severn beyond the former power station at Buildwas, Peter Hodgkison was able to photograph a damselfly with expanded tibiae that are mainly coloured white leading to its common name White-legged damselfly.

Photograph: Peter Hodgkison

On the same outing he also photographed a female demoiselle. Unfortunately the female's wing pattern does not follow the males and we think this is a Banded demoiselle. I am sure someone will tell me if this identification is wrong.

Photograph: Peter Hodgkison

Surveying his garden our lichenologist now turned 'shroomer and photographed this Chicken of the woods fungus fruiting on a willow.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

How has it acquired the name? According to Wikipedia it is edible and resembles chicken in taste, sometimes being used as a chicken substitute in vegetarian dishes. But BEWARE! It can cause a reaction in some when eaten.

On the same day our shieldbug devotee and extraordinary finder and identifier of the early stages of these insects found her first Eurydema oleracea nymph in Shropshire.

Photograph: Maria Justamond

As all previous finds of this shieldbug within Shropshire have been adults, this nymph confirms that it is breeding within the county.

Whilst Peter and Maria were photographing their finds I was invited with our Arachnologist to survey a private garden on the slopes of the Onny Valley. As this is an area where little recording has been done it provided an excellent opportunity to boost the records. The garden included large areas of unimproved grassland which was the focus of our attention.

In the course of our meanderings we came across a field grasshopper that preferred to pose on the tube of the vacuum sampler rather than suffer the indignity of being sucked up into it!