Now you don't see it ... Now you do

 Pam's Pools, Wednesday, 28th July 2021

Pam's Pools is a nature reserve in Underton, a few miles to the south west of Bridgnorth. Over the past few years the site has grown considerably as a former sand quarry has been acquired and developed to provide a greater variety of habitats to encourage a wider range of species using the site.

The following aerial photographs show most of the area that we spent our day exploring. The top one shows the more established conservation lakes. The lower one pictures a more recently created lake and several smaller pools.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Photograph: Bob Kemp

We parked and met in one of the newer fields (to the right in the photograph immediately above). 

Once we had gone through the rigmerole of getting ready, having a bit of a catch-up chin-wag (after all we had not met up for a week) and greeted our later arrivals, who had unfortunately fallen foul of one of the many road closures that have sprung up recently, we set off.

Not very far ...

About 10 yards from the closest car, where a log pile was checked out for beetles and anything else of interest.

Photograph: Jim Almond

This is a ground beetle, Pterostichus niger. 

I was not present when it was found so I do not know if it came from the log pile. Judging from the fingers of the finder in was in the soil close by.

Another insect found about the same time was this moth, a Dingy footman.

Photograph: David Williams

It started raining.

Just a drop or two at first.

But it soon intensified.

We were by a substantial hedge but this provided no overhead cover, and the nearest trees suitable for sheltering under were a hundred yards away.

We ignored the rain and carried on.

A Magpie moth was spotted. No sooner was a camera vaguely pointed in its direction than it flew off. Fortunately we were able to follow its flight. It came to a rest and this time it posed patiently.

Photograph: Jim Almond

Another creature found in trees and bushes, and thus in hedges, is the Oak bush cricket.

Photograph: David Williams

A foray away from the hedge into the field where there was a large patch of clover was rewarded by the sight of an Adonis' ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

This is a ladybird that we do not often find. It is fairly distinctive with all the black spots crowded towards the back of its red wing cases.

It was still raining!

Needless to say I was lagging at the back but when I caught up with the others many were crowded around this Ash tree

Photograph: Stephen Mitchell

Were they sheltering?

No, this ash did not really make a good umbrella.

They were looking at three moths on the tree trunk. 

They were pretty well camouflaged. Can you see one of them?

Photograph: Jim Almond

It is a little easier to see in the next photograph.

Photograph: David Williams

And clear as day in this one.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Which one do you think will fall prey most easily?

They were all Knot grass moths.

We were now by the nearest of the pools shown in the first photograph. Here it is a ground level.

The rain stopped.

However everything was wet, including this Black-tailed skimmer.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

What is it about some people? If I approached this dragonfly it would fly away. But not when approached by a young, fearless, entomologist.

Photograph: David Williams

Another dragonfly find was not the live insect but the skin of the last instar nymph from which the adult emerged.

Photograph: David Williams

This is the exuvia of an Emperor dragonfly.

A movement of the vegetation near the pool edge caught my attention. After a few near misses I managed to cup my hands around the insect. Careful opening of my hands revealed an adult female Large-winged conehead.

After a short pause it hopped off my hand and landed on my rain jacket, where it wandered around for several minutes, allowing it to be photographed.

Photograph: David Williams

Photograph: Jim Almond

A hoverfly, Eristalis arbustorum was spotted on the vegetation.

Photograph: Jim Almond

This is usually easily distinguished from other Eristalis hoverflies by the completely yellow face. However the yellow can be worn away exposing a black patch making it much more difficult to identify. Fortunately this one was "unworn".

Down by the pool edge someone was looking for beetles that live in the mud and vegetation. And they found this ...

Photograph: David Williams

A ground beetle, Elaphrus riparius, which has been accorded the wonderful English name Green-socks peacock. 

Whilst all of this intensive searching of the pool edge and surrounding vegetation was taking place, a member of the local Vegetation Control team came to see what was going on.

Clearly he was not impressed by what he saw as he soon wandered off to carry out his task.

The sun came out. It was pleasantly warm. We had lunch.

The post-lunch session started where the pre-lunch session had finished, in the vegetation around the pool edge. There was no need to move far as we were finding lots to identify, record and photograph. Here are some of the finds.

Eristalis tenax (note the black and yellow face unlike the completely yellow face of the Eristalis abustorum in the earlier photograph).

Photograph: Jim Almond

An Ichneumon - I have no idea which species.

Photograph: Jim Almond

A Blue-tailed damselfly.

Photograph: Jim Almond

A rather bedraggled moth, a Clay.

Photograph: Jim Almond

Another hoverfly which is probably a male Sphaerophoria scripta.

Photograph: Jim Almond

And finally another hoverfly, Syritta pipiens, caught brilliantly by the photographer, in flight.

Photograph: Jim Almond

Time to move away from the pool.

The sun disappered.

It rained again.

Many of the members of the Vegetation Control team went on strike over working conditions.

The sun soon returned, but the Vegetation Control team refused to budge. 

However we carried on, unperturbed, surveying an area of wet grassland (no, not just from the rain) known as "Marsh Field".

We came across some blacklegs who had ignored the strike call and were quite happily eating their way through the lush vegetation.

At some stage around this time a sawfly, Athalia rosae, was photographed.

Photograph: John Martin

It was time to head back to the cars.

But on the way we came across one of the group inspecting a pile of logs and looking very happy. A pair (if not more) of Lesser stag beetles had been found under one of the logs.

Photograph: David Williams

Photograph: Jim Almond

After this diversion we did make it back to the cars and wended our way home.

My thanks to the owner of the site for allowing us to visit and do what we all enjoy doing. And, as always, my thanks to the photographers for sending me their pictures for use in this report.

Other events

Although our butterfly questor had seen White letter hairstreak at Whitcliffe Common the previous Wednesday, the following day he wanted to see more! I accompanied him to Knapp Farm and Papermill Nature Reserve, managed by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, where he hoped his desire would be met.

It was not.

But it was a gloriously hot, sunny day.

And in our slow ramble around the site we saw lots of other butterflies, grasshoppers and crickets, and this fly:

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

This is the rare beefly, Villa cingulata, also known as the Downland villa. It is normally found further south on south-facing chalk and limestone grassland in the Chiltern Hills and the Cotswolds. So it was a surprise to come across it in Worcestershire.

Having only seen a few of these flies at a couple of sites previously it was amazing to see the huge numbers on this site. 

The ones we observed seemed to be prospecting on bare earth for suitable sites to lay their eggs, then spending time on the ground scraping the soil ovipositing. But this was a speculative interpretaion of what we saw.

And after a little research (Stubbs and Drake, British Soldier Flies and their Allies, British Entomological and Natural History Society, 2014) our interpretation is probably completely wrong!

The life-cycle of the fly we observed is not really known but that of some other beeflies is, so assuming the life-cycle is similar: when it was on the ground scraping the earth it was collecting soil particles with which to coat its tiny eggs; when it flies around areas where solitary bees and maybe other insects are nesting or may nest it flicks its eggs out onto the ground as it flies. It is the first stage of the larval stage that seeks out its host. 

Some of the other things of interest seen during the visit were:

A Yellow shell moth.

A Marbled white butterfly.

And a Roesel's bush cricket.

Meanwhile from our correspondent in Church Stretton we heard that another Shropshire First Record had been claimed by his moth trap. This time it was a micro-moth, Metalampra italica.

Photograph: Mike Shurmer

As these things happen, on the Friday before the Joy of Wildlife trip to Pam's Pools, the moth group visited the same site. We were inundated with moths and a couple of insects pretending to be moths so they could enjoy the delights of a moth trap.

Here are four of the moth species that visited that evening.

Brown-line bright-eye

Photograph: David Williams

Dot moth

Photograph: David Williams

Ghost moth

Photograph: David Williams

Large emerald

Photograph: David Williams

And now a couple of the interlopers.

An Oak bush cricket

Photograph: David Williams

A Tabanid fly.

Photograph: David Williams

Making an early start on a Sunday morning three of us set off to Portland for a two-day jolly to look for insects that are easier to find in this area. Our targets were three butterflies: Chalkhill blue; Lulworth skipper and Large tortoiseshell; and two orthoptera: Grey bush cricket and Scaly cricket.

To summarise, we found possibly four of the five but had the compensation of finding another orthoptera that we would not normally see.

It was dull and overcast when we set off.

It started to rain lighlty as we made our first stop.

It was raining more heavily for our second stop.

And it was pouring down as we approached Dorchester, about 20 miles from our destination.

Oh dear!

Two grumpy passengers and an equally grumpy driver.

But then ...

The rain eased ...

The clouds parted ...

The rain stopped ...

The sun came out ...

And it stayed out (except overnight) for most of the rest of stay.

Three really happy people arrived at Tout Quarry on Portland.

Within fifty yards of the entrance to the quarry we had found Grey bush cricket; within 70 yards we had found Chalkhill blue and within a 100 yards we had also notched up Lulworth skipper.

Here are photographs of these three (although not necessarily the first ones we found).

Grey bush cricket

Photograph: David Williams

Chalkhill blue

Photograph: David Williams

Lulworth skipper

Photograph: David Williams

Having found three of the species reasonably easily we were able to explore this wonderful reserve whilst keeping an eye out for number 4 - Large tortoiseshell.

Other invertebrate highlights of the day included:

A Tortoise shieldbug nymph.

Photograph: David Williams

A Grayling butterfly.

And a Scarlet tiger moth

But no Large tortoiseshell.

We eventually reached the far end of the quarry where there was a flat area of land overlooking the undercliff below and with a splendind view of Chesil Beach stretching off into the distance.

A Herring gull surveyed its domain (or was, maybe, waiting to ambush any food we may have had).

Photograph: David Williams

There was a flash of a butterfly as it fired across this ledge from left to right then disappeared. A minute or two later it did the same in the opposite direction. Another minute passed and the process was repeated. In fact it was repeated maybe a dozen times whilst we waited for it to settle somewhere near.

It never settled. However as it was seen over and over and over again, an impression formed, and that impression was that it was a Large tortoiseshell, but this was never confirmed.

We left the quarry and sought refreshments at Portland Bill, as did this Great black-backed gull which plunged into the water to grab a crab which it then took to a rock to devour.

Photograph: David Williams

Refreshments finished we had a quick wander around that popular area with its lighthouse.

And rock that seemed irresistable to people who just had to climb up it.

Photograph: David Williams

After an overnight stay nearby we returned to Chesil Beach to look for Scaly crickets. The crickets are known to inhabit parts of this curious construction.

We did not find any but were compensated by finding Lesser cockroach, one of the cockroaches native to Britain.

Female - Photograph: David Williams

Male - Photograph: David Williams

We had parked on the causeway car park and this was separated from the pebble embankmant by a tongue of water from the Fleet. Close to where we were there were some  Mediterranean gulls.

Photograph: David Williams

And to my delight the visitor centre and cafe roof was utilised by a large flock of Starlings.

To finish our trip we visited the King Barrow Quarries on Portland. We did not find a Large tortoiseshell at rest but did find a female Grey bush cricket.

Photograph: David Williams

As an added bonus there was a magnificent view of Chesil Beach from the car park through a gap in the trees.

Thank you for reading.

Keep well.