Four Seasons in One Day

 Wednesday 25th March 2026, Rudge Farm

 It has been a couple of years since our last visit to Rudge Farm, which sits close to the Staffordshire border near Chesterton. A large arable farm, it contains an area of regenerating heathland on sandy soil, which is being managed for wildlife.
 
We gathered in what could be described as typical March weather. Sunny periods alternated with sharp showers of both rain and hail. One constant feature was the wind, which was both fierce and freezing. Here is what a sunnier moment looked like:

photo: Keith  Fowler

And here is a collection of invertebrates collected during a hail storm - complete with hailstones!

photo: John Martin

The woodlouse above is Philoscia muscorum and there is also a capsized 16-spot ladybird and a Pogonognathellus longicornis springtail in there among other things.
 
We parked at the corner of an arable field that had previously been used to grow asparagus. Inspections of the edges of this field (shown above in the first photo) produced two nice liverwort species. This is Common Crystalwort, Riccia sorocarpa.

And this, much rarer liverwort is a Sphaerocarpus species (Balloonwort). It is one of two, which can only be separated by the structure of their spores. Either one would be a Shropshire first. A sample is now maturing on the recorder’s kitchen windowsill in the hope that it will ripen, produce spores and reveal its true identity.

photo: John Martin

Vacuum sampling in the grassy margins around this area produced plentiful finds. One nice species was this small rove beetle, Anthobium unicolor.

Others included several ladybirds. In ascending order of spots: 16-, 22- and 24-spot.

photos:  Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Pill Millipede

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Small Nettle Weevil,  Nedyus quadrimaculatus

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And another weevil, Andrion regensteinense. 

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Progressing along the edge of this field brought us in due course to a wide, grassy track. 

This track descends, then ultimately leads back upwards to the right, to the aforementioned area of heathland. Black Oil-beetles, Meloe proscarabaeus have been recorded on this heathland for several years but now seem to be spreading, having been seen all along this grassy track in recent times. We kept our eyes peeled, but in the meantime some gorse was inspected, producing a Gorse Shieldbug

And a Gorse Weevil.

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

About halfway along the track the first oil-beetle was spotted - a male, with a second male appearing a little further on. The sunny spells were giving enough warmth for them to be ploddingly active.

photo: John Martin

When the sun disappeared, though, the wind got up even further and it was a different story, for both beetles and humans alike. All were frozen to something like a catatonic state! Closer to the heath and in a cold spell, this beetle was discovered and gave every appearance of being dead. It was prodded, whereupon it defensively reflex-bled haemolymph (the ‘oil’ which gives the species their common name) from its knees, demonstrating that it was alive but very cold. Fortunately the next sunny interval was not far away.

As far as I am aware, all of the half a dozen or so oil-beetles that we saw were males except for this one female (note the much less funky antennae), seen when we finally reached the heath.

Up on the heath (or, more correctly, on the sandy track at its edge) finds other than oil-beetles included the hoverfly Eristalis pertinax

photo: John Martin

Another  fly,  Geomyza tripunctata 

photo: John Martin

And a stilt bug, Berytinus crassipes

Lunch was declared, the group retreating to the shelter of the woods to escape the wind. By the time that rations had been consumed, another sunny spell had arrived, transforming the scene once again.

photo: Keith Fowler

Around this time several non-invertebrate finds were made: Yellow Brain Fungus

photo:  Nigel Cane-Honeysett

False Puffball, a large and conspicuous slime-mould 

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And Dog-lichen, Peltigera canina

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Plus the fly Bibio lanigerus, a smaller relative of the familiar St Mark’s Fly so often seen in Spring.

photo: John Martin

Turning to begin the return loop of our walk, we took a path along the other side of the heath.

This descended to a valley bottom and stream, back into woodland (and shelter!). Here the vegetation produced a Forest Bug, Pentatoma rufipes nymph 

Plus spiders including Episinus angulatus

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a pirate spider, Ero species, with Neottiura bimaculata following in its wake.

photo:  Nigel Cane-Honeysett

The valley bottom was reached

photo: Keith Fowler

and a darkling beetle, Nalassus laevioctostriatus found.

A final, pleasing find was Moschatel (or Town Hall Clock, named for its multi-faceted flowerheads) which carpeted the floor near to the stream. 

photo: John Martin

A very productive day despite the often challenging conditions. Thank  you to our hosts for allowing us to return to this splendid site.  
  
 
Photographs © the author except as noted