Ne'er cast a clout till May is out

Wednesday 16th April 2025, Hurst Wood

Hurst Wood is a private house on the outskirts of All Stretton surrounded by land, including gardens, extensive grasslands, conifers and oak woodland. A small stream runs through a part of the site.

After the extended dry, sunny and occasionally hot period of weather, the day of this visit was a shock. 

It did not rain, other than a light five-minute apology for a shower, but the wind was bitter.

Needless to say, some of us had been lulled into a false sense of security and had cast several layers of clothing in APRIL. 

In my case the most important cast was gloves.

My fingers were numb within 15 minutes of starting out and they did not fully recover their feeling until we were indoors for lunch.

But we soldiered on.

We started in the grassland closest to the house.

This is on a serious slope as can be seen from this photograph.

However the contours and bushes provided some respite from the icy breeze.

Our initial finds were all ladybirds.

The first was one we find very rarely, an 18-spot ladybird. It is generally associated with Scot’s pine, which is where this one was found. 

Photograph: David Williams

The second was another one we do not find very often, another species found on conifers, especially Scot’s pine, Scymnus suturalis.

Photograph: David Williams

The third was a Pine ladybird. Despite its name it is found in a range of habitats, not just pine trees.

Photograph: David Williams

The area of grassland we were in is well populated with Broom and in amongst it a scarce parasitic plant has grown, Greater broomrape. Unfortunately it was not in flower but the remains of last year’s were present.

Another plant that we do not find very often was Moschatel.

Photograph: David Williams

This is also called “Town hall clock” after the structure of its flower which resembles the four faces of a clock tower.

And on some of the leaves of the Moschatel we noticed lots of little black dots.

Photograph: John Martin

This is a fungal rust, Puccinia adoxae, that affects this species of plant.

On the subject of rusts, we found another, this time on the leaves of violets. It is Puccinia violae.

This is the rust on the top surface of the leaf.

Photograph: John Martin

And the underside.

Photograph: John Martin

We spent the whole morning investigating this sloping grassland whilst trying to stave off frostbite. 

Here area a couple of other finds.

A pseudoscorpion.

Photograph: John Martin

And the larva of a Green-brindled crescent moth.

Photograph: Graham Wenman

One of the group went off on a adventure. He ventured into the garden and started searching the trees and bushes that it contained. In one Scot’s pine he found two shieldbugs.

The first was a Birch shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

And the second, a nymph of a Forest bug (or Red-legged shieldbug, if you prefer).

Photograph: David Williams

We were invited inside the house to have our lunch, which allowed us to thaw out and get full feeling back into our extremities.

Over lunch I discussed the representation of common names with my retrospective Proof Reader.

The instruction given to me when penning early articles about invertebrates was that common names were always given in lower case, e.g. small white.

Clearly this is ambiguous as it may refer to the species of a butterfly or it may be descriptive of the size of any white object. To overcome this I have adopted the convention of capitalising the first part of the common name, e.g. Small white.

However, I was being persuaded to should capitalise each word, e.g. Small White.

Having checked the species dictionary maintained by the Natural History Museum I have noted that the common name given is capitalised, e.g. Small White.

So, henceforth, I will try to adopt this convention.

Please excuse any slip-ups.

Our conversation was interrupted by “Who would like some Lemon Drizzle Cake?” (Should I have used capitals?)

The response was a resounding “Yes, Please”.

It was very good.

Lunch over we moved to a the part of the grassland through which a small stream flowed.

On our way to that area we took in the view of Caer Caradoc.

Here we did our usual things but very little that we had not found before presented itself to us. What we did encounter were:

A Nomada bee;

Photograph: David Williams

A fly, a member of the Anthomyiidae family, that may be Hylemya vagans;

Photograph: John Martin

And another ladybird, this time a Larch Ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

That brought our day to an end.

We made our way back to the cars and home.

My thanks to the owners for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing and their wonderful hospitality. My gratitude to the photographers for their excellent images and allowing me to use them in this report.

What, No Holly?

Wednesday 9th April 2025, Holly Banks SWT Reserve

Holly Banks was purchased by Shropshire Wildlife Trust with, as its website says, “two main aims: to show that this low-lying land could demonstrate alternative water management techniques helping to avoid flooding problems; and to help breeding lapwing. By slowing down the rush of water tumbling off the Welsh mountains, towns downstream may be spared some of the wretchedness of flooding, while wetland birds in the old floodplains where the rivers Severn and Vyrnwy meet might be given a chance of recovery.”

After several weeks of dry weather the site was, in the main, very dry, with a couple of pools and a few wetter areas.

What was noticeable, in view of its name, was the lack of Holly. 

Clearly the presence of Holly was not a factor in naming the site!

The site consists of three fields. 

The first is grassland surrounded on two sides by a substantial hedge.

Here is the field.

And here is some of the hedge.

Photograph: David Williams

Within the field, all on its own, is this oak, just bursting into leaf.

The second field is rougher grassland.

The third field is also rough grassland and, in areas, much wetter than the rest of the site.

It contains two pools. 

Here is the first you come to.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

The second, close by, is overlooked by a bird hide.

That’s the end of the guided tour.

Now its time for what happened and what we found.

After getting ready we had a short walk from the parked cars to the site. We had not got very far before someone noticed a distant Redstart in a tree.

Sorry no photograph of the bird, but it generated a lot of interest within the group.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

Tearing ourselves away from the Redstart we entered the first field and immediately started searching the area around the hedgerow.

One thing we noticed straightaway was the abundance of Green Dock beetles.

Photograph: David Williams

Recently this very common beetle has been rather hard to find, so it was great to see them here. And, like the pair in the photograph, mostly busy making the next generation.

Another early find was the alder fly Sialis lutaria.

Photograph: David Williams

There are three British species of alder fly and they all look similar. It is necessary to examine their genital area to determine their species but they nearly always turn out to be this species!

Wandering around it was not possible to ignore the view and the prominence of Rodney’s Pillar in the distance.

Photograph: David Williams

Jutting out from the hedgerow was a dead tree trunk, covered in Cramp Balls (or King Alfred’s Cakes if you prefer).

A dandelion attracted a solitary bee, Andrena nitidula.

Photograph: David Williams

Before you rip all the dandelions out of your lawn, remember they are an excellent food source at this time of year for invertebrates.

Overhead helicopters are a fact of wildlife recording, unfortunately. They seem to follow us around, perhaps they are closet entomologists! Normally, we try to ignore them, but this one drew attention due to its additional appendage.

Photograph: David Williams

Switching our attention back to the matters in hand we saw our first Cuckoo flower of the year.

Photograph: David Williams

We moved from the first field, fairly swiftly through the second, to the third field. 

Here the damper conditions revealed it as a home to newts. Here is a Common newt.

Photograph: Neil Nash

A hillock to the side of this field had a bare area that was south facing. This was being used by nesting solitary bees.

And where you get nesting bees you also get other bees that wish to parasitise the nesting bee.

Here is one.

Photograph: Richard Becker

It is Nomada ferruginata. 

This was an excellent find.

It was the first time it has been recorded in the county.

It is a scarce bee with scattered records from across England and Wales.

Nomada bees are kleptoparasites. They lay their eggs in the nests of the host bee then, when they hatch, their larva eat the food provided for the host’s larvae.

This species of Nomada has a single host, Andrena praecox.

Lunch was enjoyed overlooking the pools.

Lunch was interrupted by a flying damselfly.

It was tracked down and identified as a Large red.

Photograph: David Williams

We thought it was still very early to find this species of damselfly but enquiries revealed that the earliest date that a Large red had been found was 5th April.

After lunch we concentrated on exploring the third field.

We found a Slender groundhopper.

Photograph: David Williams

And a 2-spot ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

As the day continued we found a pair of “peacock” beetles, named after, presumably, the rings on their elytra that resemble the pattern seen on a male Peacock’s tail.

The first was a Green-socks peacock.

Photograph: David Williams

And the second, a Copper peacock.

Photograph: David Williams

Here they are side by side for comparison.

Photograph: David Williams

By now the temperature of the day out in the sun was HOT and it began to take its toll.

It was time to relax.

Photograph: Neil Nash

Their reverie was interrupted briefly when someone must have dropped something leading to a quick search.

Photograph: Neil Nash

But then they were able to settle down again and discuss the topics of the day.

Time to trek back to the cars.

We did not go straight back but revisited the hillock where the Nomada had been found to see what was going on at the area being used by bees.

Then we wandered back to the cars and home.

My thanks to Shropshire Wildlife Trust for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing and my gratitude to the photographers for their excellent images and allowing me to use them in this report.

Flying kites

Wednesday 2nd April 2025, Stag’s Head, New Invention

The curiously named hamlet of New Invention, a few miles south of Clun, was our destination for this outing. The owners of Stag’s Head, a house in the hamlet, acquired a parcel of land a few years ago which they have been enhancing to boost biodiversity.

The site consists of grassland, which is grazed part of the time by sheep, grassland that is left to its own devices, hedgerows and recently planted trees.

Remarkably we managed to look at the whole site from bottom to top. 

This was not quite the plan as I had hoped to complete it from top to bottom.

Two things to point out. 

1. The site is on a slope. Not severe and not very long, but it is surprising how much steeper it feels when carrying a weighty backpack and lots of equipment.

2. I suggested we start at the top at which point everyone wandered into the wetland which was at the bottom.

Should I have been surprised?

Here is a picture of the wetland area taken during the morning.

The suction sampler was soon put to work and the contents of its catch attracted the usual attendant huddle.

Others did their searching by more “old-fashioned” means.

Of course, a net has benefits over the suction sampler as it can capture creatures in flight.

However it would have been almost impossible to net this flying animal.

Photograph: John Martin

We were accompanied by a Red kite for most of the day. It is incredible to think how rare these birds were not so many years ago. Early during our visit three Red kites and a Buzzard were circling above us.

Another animal that accompanied us for most of the day was the owners’ dog, who was very, very well behaved throughout.

An early observation was a Dotted bee-fly, recognisable from the dark spots on its wings.

Photograph: David Williams

This lovely fly species arrived in the county a few years back and is slowly making its way up the county.

Another find in the wetland area was a beetle. Unless the information I have been given is incorrect, it is Phaedon cochleariae, a species of leaf beetle that is “partial” to Watercress.

Photograph: John Martin

In a drier area of the wetland a grasshopper nymph was spotted, somehow coaxed onto a hand, and then photographed.

Photograph: David Williams

Most grasshopper nymphs cannot be identified at the species level at this early stage, and this one was no exception.

A couple of species we could identify positively were this tortoise beetle, Cassida flaveola.

Photograph: John Martin

And a larva of a Scarlet tiger moth.

Photograph: John Martin

Lunch time and we were still at the bottom of the site!

Would we ever get to the top?

But, you already know the answer to that.

Lunch over and a Red kite was still with us.

Photograph: David Williams

An apricating bee was observed close to the lunch spot.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

This is the relatively rare solitary bee, Andrena apicata.

Time for the climb!

We left the wetland and progressed uphill through an area of grassland that is not grazed, with frequent pauses to search for invertebrates or just take in the view!

Not a great deal was found as the unusually high heat of the day seemed to drive the invertebrates to seek shelter. One insect that was observed was the larva of a Garden tiger moth.

Photograph: David Williams

Passing from the grassland we moved into an area of broadleaved saplings that had been planted at the start of the owners’ management of the site.

Again very little was found.

And the heat of the day was beginning to take its toll of the group.

Having managed to get to the furthest and highest point of the site …

We admired the view …

Did a bit of exploration ...

Then started the walk back down the hill.

From the plantation we passed through the grazed field, with a brief pause to look, unsuccessfully, for the Moonwort that grows in this field, to a spot close to the owners’ residence overlooking the restored barn.

Here we were treated to afternoon drinks and cakes.

Delicious!

My thanks to the owners for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing and their excellent hospitality. My gratitude to the photographers for their excellent images and allowing me to use them in this report.