It'll be that one or the other

The Haycop, Broseley - Wednesday 4th July 2018

On Tuesday afternoon I was asked how many were expected for this trip.

"Five" was my response.

Two hours later it had risen to seven and then an hour later two more told me they were coming.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived on site to find a further two had decided to come along making us a large enough group to form a football team. Would we be good enough to compete in the World Cup?

The sky was a glorious shade of blue and the sun was beating down so it was clear that we needed to get as much done as quickly as possible before we were overcome by the heat of the afternoon.

The Haycop is an excellent mixture of habitats in a compact site with rough grassland, meadows, heath, woodland and a pool. A lot of work is done by volunteers maintaining it and I am pleased to say that they maintain it for the wildlife rather than to make it look nice. Long may this continue.

We started off in the rough grassland. 

Many mini-beasts make their home in such a habitat. Many make their living off the vegetation but they always need to keep an eye out for predators. One such predator is the spider Misuena vatia which lurks often on flower heads waiting patiently to ambush anything that passes. I have seen it take a bumble bee in the past. In this case it has taken a hoverfly.

Photograph: David Williams

The next object of our attention was the pool and its surrounding vegetation.

There was plenty of activity in and above the water with damselflies lazily meandering about the emergent vegetation. This behaviour contrasted with the frenetic activity of a Southern hawker which dashed hither and thither about the pool.

A pair of Azure damselflies were photographed as the male "escorted" the female as she laid her eggs.

Photograph: David Williams

Our fly-catcher asked for a fly to be photographed. 

Photograph: David Williams

Many flies need to subjected to microscopic examination to determine the species but this one can be done from a photograph. Unfortunately I do not know what it is! But our fly-catcher assured us that "it'll be that one or the other"!

It was time for a rest!!

We climbed a grassy bank where some of us had a sit down and took on water. 

At this point we welcomed an old, old friend - Auntie Betty's tablecloth.

"Aunty Betty's tablecloth" first made its appearance long before the Joy of Wildlife walks its predecessors were conceived. A group of us used to do surveys organised by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. A sheet was produced by its owner to use to catch things beaten from trees and it was immediately christened by another of that group. After several years tucked away in a cupboard it made its reappearance at The Haycop.

We found a teneral instar of a shieldbug, which I think is a Green shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

It has just moulted emerging in these bright colours. Over the following few hours it will gradually take on its normal colours.

We made our way further up the hill by a variety of paths to lunch in the meadow and heathland.

This area provided an excellent view of the church in Broseley.

There are a number of metal sheets laid out in the trees that surround this area and a slow worm was sheltering under one of them.

Photograph: Paul Watts

Several butterflies were dashing around this area including some skippers. Several were caught to see if one of them was an Essex skipper, a recent arrival in the county. And, yes, one was an Essex skipper. An identifying feature is the black tips to its antennae.

Photograph: David Williams

The heat was increasing, time to move on and find some shade!

We retreated to the woods and made our way slowly back to where we started.

Another wonderful day in an excellent site. We are very lucky that we have so many sites of interest within easy reach.

My thanks to the Friends of Haycop for allowing us to visit and do what we enjoy doing and to the photographers David Williams and Paul Watts for allowing me to use their photographs.

Road works and a puncture

All Stretton, Wednesday 27 June 2018

We were late arriving on site.

No, we had not been delayed setting off; we should have arrived in plenty of time. But just after passing Bayston Hill on the A49 we ground to a halt and then set off at a crawl as the traffic negotiated a "mobile" road works.

There was a person with a STOP/GO sign but he was not STOPPING or GOING the traffic, then there was a van parked at the side of the road. A few yards further on we came across someone doing some work - he was hand strimming the grass verge. Finally we came across another STOP/GO sign-man who was as effective as the first.

Why were they cutting the verge with a strimmer?

Anyway we made reasonable progress after getting past and should have arrived more or less on time until we ground to a halt again in Leebotwood.

This time there were traffic lights. And the cause of the delay - resurfacing.

We were definitely going to be late.

And despite there being no more delays we were.

Apologies were given to our host for the day, then we got ready to survey.

"Er! Keith …. you seem to have a puncture."

I had. The rear nearside tyre was as flat as the proverbial pancake.

It was no good worrying about it at this stage; it could wait until we had done what we wanted to do.

Despite the early setbacks it was a glorious day.

We started in a grassy field and had an early surprise when a Pearl-bordered fritillary put in an all too brief appearance.

Photograph: David Williams

The grass was swept and vacuumed, the trees were beaten and the hedgerow inspected to reveal a good range of species but none matched the exuberance of the fritillary, although a small skipper came close.

Photograph: David Williams

As we entered a small patch of woodland we found an aphid that had been parasitized.

Photograph: David Williams

The aphid is glued to what looks like a slice of orange and is unable to move.

Curious!

By the time we had worked our way through the woodland it was, you guessed it, lunchtime. As the sun was beating down we looked for some shade and found it in the middle of a sheep pasture where an ash, just in picture on the left of the following photograph, provided some relief from the sun.

The views from this field are excellent. The above photograph shows Caer Caradoc which is across the valley from the site. And for any of us feeling homesick the Wrekin was just over there, dominating the far horizon!

We were not alone in seeking out lunch. In my tray a crab spider was tucking into a mirid bug. A sizeable snack.

Photograph: David Williams

From the pasture we moved into a meadow. This area and its bordering vegetation and trees were searched for quite a while before the relentless heat took its toll and we ground to a halt. I should not complain, we were not getting wet through precipitation from the skies.

Rested and thirst quenched we moved on through more woodland bordering a stream to a further meadow. Again we searched and rested, searched and rested before deciding to call it a day.

Having returned to our start point a wasp's nest was located.

Photograph: David  Williams

The above composite photograph shows wasps, Dolichovespula saxonica, at the entrance to the nest

One problem remained - the flat tyre.

"Leave that with me" were the wonderful words uttered by one member of the group. So I did as asked.

I wandered off to look at a sparsely vegetated area returning after a while to find the emergency tyre in place. Thank you.

The day was rounded off with a cold drink and home made scones. Brilliant!

My thanks to Mags Cousins for allowing us to visit her patch and providing refreshments; to David Williams for allowing me to use his excellent photographs; and to Jim Cresswell for changing the wheel.

It's not Stonehenge

Mitchell's Fold Stone Circle and Stapeley Hill, Wednesday 20th June 2018

Holidays, domestic duties, work, accidents and caring for accident victims meant that just three of us made the trip to the English Heritage site and the upland grassland that surrounds it.

The views from the car park would have been stunning on a clear day. Unfortunately it wasn't! Even so there was a good view to the south west.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

It was good to see reasonably sized fields with hedgerows intact. You could also see what weather was coming! And the rain soon arrived causing the majority to jump back in the car until it had passed.

The minority were more hardy and set out onto the hill.

When the rain had stopped the softies who had retreated to the car to avoid a slight wetting followed the advance party who now cut a lonely figure on the near horizon.

The stragglers joined him and spent a little time looking for things in the grass before heading for the stone circle.

First you pass some ramparts which are no more than 18 inches high. Nowhere near high enough to deter a marauding band. But it was explained to me that erosion would have lowered their height as would collapse into the associated ditches.

At last we arrived at the circle. If you had come here expecting a version of Stonehenge you would have been sorely disappointed. About half of the stones have disappeared, the result of ancient damage, according to the information board, not recent pilfering, and most of the rest are quite short above ground.

The most impressive is about 6 foot tall.

As in the car park on a clear day the views would have been exceptional. But as I wrote earlier, it wasn't and it was raining again (hence the blobs on the above photograph). There was a good view of Corndon Hill and Lan Fawr just over the border in Wales

And of the west of Shropshire with Wales beyond.

After paying homage to one of the stones by kneeling by it and searching the bordering vegetation for spiders we decided to head down the path that descends into the valley in the centre of the above photograph seeking shelter from the strong biting wind.

On the way we were delighted to see a male stonechat in prime condition strutting his stuff on the bracken.

We found a sheltered spot and had an early lunch.

It started to rain again and a decision to call it a day or carry on was required. We carried on. And grudgingly the weather relented and granted us a few warm sunny periods which made us shed all the extra layers we had put on when we got out of the car.

At the side of the path we found a nettle that had been galled by Puccinia urticata causing the stem to buckle.

The following photograph shows the surface of the gall better.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

At the bottom of the path where a gate prevents any further progress along it we turned right along a field edge to a stream. The vegetation by the stream was checked then we climbed up 20 feet or so onto the hill. Here it was very dry and, in the periodic bursts of sun, very warm. We noticed a rock outcrop just above us so that became our next objective.

Thyme was very common here and can be seen at the base of the rock in the following photograph.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

We found a couple of large click beetles. The first is, I believe, Prosternon tessellatum.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

 The second remained unidentified but it may be Selatosomus aeneus.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

If you can confirm the identity of either or both then please let me know.

The sky was darkening and it was obvious more rain was due. We returned to the car arriving about 10 seconds after the start of the threatened shower.

Time to go home.

My thanks to Jim Cresswell for sending me some photographs to use in the report.