More of the same

Wednesday 4th May 2022, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre

The weather for our outings so far this season has settled into a bit of a rut, following the same pattern each Wednesday - rain at the start which gives way to drier, sometimes sunnier, conditions later in the day, with glorious sunshine by the time we go home! 

What will it bring for our next outing? 

We’ll have to wait and see.

The Discovery Centre has a large car park so it was a huge surprise to find it almost full when we arrived. However there were just enough spaces left to accommodate the group.

This large site has a mixture of grasslands, woodlands and pools. 

From the car park we marched past the centre’s building, formal gardens and play area to an area of grassland dotted with a few blossom trees. Some early finds here included

A 2-spot ladybird;

Photograph: Jim Almond

A Red-headed cardinal beetle;

Photograph: Jim Almond

And a couple of weevils. The first was Phyllobius pomaceus;

Photograph: Jim Almond

The second was a Phyllobius pyri.

Photograph: Jim Almond

Within the grasses there were quite a few cuckoo flowers in bloom. Orang-tip butterflies patrolled the area - males – looking for females; females looking for suitable spots to lay their eggs.

We chanced upon a female feeding on one of the plants.

Photograph: Jim Almond

Another was close by with its wings open.

Photograph: Jim Almond

Searching the grassland edge where it yielded to a bed of nettles produced a sighting of a 24-spot ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

The group seemed set to stay in this area for the rest of the day but a few of us ventured further to a few large logs that were being allowed to rot. 

Diligent searching of the logs and surrounding vegetation resulted not only in the discovery of a splendid Lesser stag-beetle:

Photograph: David Williams

But also a Lesser stag beetle larva.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

We must thank those members of the group who do not mind getting their hands dirty for these finds.

(I did not find them!!)

On the subject of larvae the beetle larva was quickly followed by finding two more, but this time they were moth caterpillars.

The first was the larva of a Scarlet tiger;

Photograph: Jim Almond

And the second was of a Timothy Tortrix.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Lunchtime was fast approaching and there was still little sign of movement from the first grassland and the logs. 

Even fewer of us formed an advanced party and reached the large pool where the path divided.

“Which way should we go?”

I spotted a picnic table through the trees to the left.

“Left”  I responded.

Only two of us made it to the picnic table!

The rest went straight on.

Undaunted we staked our places at the table and tucked in, expecting others to quickly join us once rumours of lunch had spread through the group.

I had long finished my food by the time the last stragglers came into sight having circumnavigated the pool in the opposite direction.

The lunch spot was in a meadow sandwiched between the pool and the River Onny.

This area together with the edges of the pool and river became our focus of attention.

Among the finds were a bee, Andrena haemorrhoa;

Photograph: David Williams

A hoverfly, Dasysyrphus venustus;

Photograph: Jim Almond

A bee fly, Bombylius major, with the dark front to its wings;

And a cranefly, Ptychoptera contaminata.

Photograph: John Martin

I wandered over to the river and saw a Kingfisher as it flew rapidly along the course of the river a few feet above the surface.

It was far too quick to photograph but if I had it would have been of the river with a bluish streak drawn across it.

More sedate and easier to photograph was the ornate gall of the mite, Cecidophyes rouhollahi. I am not sure what plant it was found on but the gall affects members of the genus Galium and possibly others.

Photograph: John Lyden

Beating the trees on the river bank dislodged a Cream-spot ladybird;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And within the grass some Meadow saxifrage was spotted.

Photograph: John Martin

Moving on from the meadow we came to a small pool. Searching the vegetation around this pool entertained some while others moved on to an area of grassland at the far end of the site.

Somewhere between the meadow and the far grassland this muscid fly, Phaonia fuscata, was spotted.

Photograph: John Martin

Meanwhile in the far grassland, above us a Red kite was effortlessly gliding about, changing direction with a twitch of its tail, and riding the air currents without any need to flap its wings.

Back to ground level! The grassland contained a small hillock that contained most of the floral interest of this area and was, as a result, thoroughly surveyed.

On here, a bee fly with spotted wings, Bombylius discolor, was observed and quickly photographed.

Photograph: John Martin

The find was announced, others scrambled (carefully) up the hill only for it to …

Disappear!

There followed a frantic search of the area by a group of adults behaving just like small children chasing the ball in a game of football.

Photograph: Jim Almond

“It’s over here!”

Rush to the finder …

“Sorry, it has gone again”

Spread out …

“Now it’s on that Forget-me not over there”

“Where?”

“Over there”

Rush over there …

“Ah, yes”

“Sorry, I disturbed it!”

Spread out ...

And so on for the next quarter of an hour or so.

Eventually it got fed up of being pursued, paused just long enough to be observed by all and photographed again.

Photograph: David Williams

We made our way back to the car park.

But, the fun was not over.

A casual beat of some Broom revealed a small ladybird Rhyzobius chrysomeloides.

Photograph: David Williams

It looks very similar to Rhyzobius litura but has more heavily darkened wings, a more rounded front corner to its pronotum and if you are able to flip it over and look at the keel between it front legs you will notice it is narrow and fairly pointed.

Photograph: David Williams

Another clue is where it is found; chrysomeloides is generally found in trees and litura in grassland.

This was an excellent way to bring a good day to a close.

This week’s Wednesday Weevil of the Week is the large (about 1cm) weevil, Liophloeus tessulatus.

Photograph: Emm Cane-Honeysett

Photograph: Emm Cane-Honeysett

My thanks to Grow Cook Learn, the organisation that manages the centre, for permission to do what we enjoy doing and to the photographers for allowing me to include their images.

Other News

What is this?

Photograph: Mary Steer

No, this is not a quiz as I am going to reveal the answer, but that was the question posed when this was photographed during a stay in Scotland. 

It is the flightless female of the Belted beauty moth.

A recent find in Shropshire is the Ornate shieldbug, Eurydema ornata, discovered close to the Wyre Forest. This is only the second time this bug has been found in the county.

Photograph: John Bingham

And to finish, I can confirm that Callicera rufa is alive and well on Little Hill and still using the same tree to keep an eye out for females and ward off rivals.