Local Patch

Wednesday 25th September, Dothill Local Nature Reserve

Dothill Local Nature Reserve is a large area of rough grassland, meadow, woodland, streams and pools. 

In 2009, when I first became seriously interested in the natural world, I used this site, as it was my local patch, as my “training” area, spending many hours on site, much to the amusement and occasional exasperation of my wife, pottering around the site seeing what I could find and identify.

At that time as the area was included in the council’s plan for possible future development, local politicians together with the Shropshire Wildlife Trust set up a working group to attempt to designate the area as a Local Nature Reserve.

Over a number of years species records were gathered from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Wrekin Forest Volunteer group and the Joy of Wildlife group as well as others to justify its status as a nature reserve. 

In due course it was granted a Local Nature Reserve designation.

Our last Joy of Wildlife trips to the site were in 2016 when we did a series of 6 monthly visits. It was time to go back!

We parked and met on a residential street close to the northern end of Tee Lake, the largest body of water on the site.

Within a few yards of entering the site we came to two groups of mushrooms growing on the woodchips between the bushes.

Our identifications are tentative, but we think they were:

Coprinopsis lagopus, Hare’s foot inkcap;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And Leratiomyces ceres, Redlead roundhead.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Moving on to the vegetation that separates Tee Lake from a footpath we found several harvestmen including:

Opilio canestrinii;

Photograph: David Williams

And Leiobunum blackwalli.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

In amongst our other discoveries in this area was a White-lipped banded snail, Capaea hortensis.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

We also disturbed a small green-speckled mirid bug, Malacocoris chlorizans.

Photograph: David Williams

This is a predatory bug that feeds on mites and aphids.

Time was marching on. We were still only about 40 yards from where we had parked. Not great progress in view of the size of the site! We shuffled on a few more yards before finding a Green shieldbug.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

We were in a meadow area but, unfortunately, from our point of view, the grass had been cut, and the area was pretty devoid of invertebrate life other than in the well-vegetated border regions. On the plus side the cuttings had been removed which ought to benefit the overall health of the meadow.

We did manage to find a Bishop’s Mitre. 

Photograph: David Williams

From this area we had a bit of a view of the lake.

At the top of the meadow there is an island of woodland and this was the focus of our attention for some time.

 

A slime mould was located. We believe it is Fuligo septica.

Photograph: John Martin

This has been given the rather descriptive name of Dog vomit slime mould. As I do not have a dog I cannot comment on the accuracy of that description.

Here is a closer view of the slime mould’s surface.

Photograph: David Williams

We also found a second slime mould, but this one remains unidentified.

Photograph: Neil Nash

Slime moulds are not fungi. They have been assigned to the Protozoa kingdom of organisms. The life of a slime mould is far too complex for me to try and summarise in this report but it is fascinating. Please investigate if you are curious.

Other insects found at this time and photographed were:

A weevil, Curculio glandium;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Cream-spot ladybird;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A larva of a Speckled wood butterfly;

Photograph: David Williams

And a male common earwig.

Photograph: John Martin

It was lunchtime and we had been offered refreshments by one of the group who lived very close to the site. We were still quite a way from his home so we rushed, but not too quickly, to get there.

On the way we paused by a Leylandii. Sometimes you find Juniper shieldbugs on this tree, so a couple of us beat the tree (not too vigorously) to try and dislodge one. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful, but my companion found one. It was not photographed.

We reached our lunch site just as it started to rain!

Great timing!

Tea and coffee were provided as we consumed our picnics. 

This was followed by freshly baked cake! 

A choice!

Carrot, Chocolate or Lemon drizzle?

I had some Lemon drizzle, which was excellent. 

Thank you.

We had clearly taken up residence in their pet’s favourite location as it came in whilst we were eating and stared, in the way that cats do, as if to say what are you doing here.

It did not retreat and leave us to it.

It stood its ground and, after being fed a few tit-bits and stroked by several people, it decided we were acceptable and settled down on one of the chairs.

A second “pet” appeared. A nymph of a Juniper shieldbug. I assume we had brought it unknowingly into the house. It was collected and, when we returned to the site after lunch, it was put in the Leylandii that we had beaten.

Photograph: David Williams

The rain was short-lived, but the skies were threatening. 

We moved slowly down a second meadow which contained a few trees and was bordered by large alders then the lake.

A sawfly larva was spotted, Nematus alniastri.

Photograph: John Martin

This was followed by a weevil, Hypera nigrirostris.

Photograph: John Martin

And a 24-spot ladybird.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

This fungus Clavulina cristata was observed, I am not sure where on the site it was but now seems as good a time as any to include the photograph.

Photograph: Neil Nash

Similarly this spider, Nigma walckenaeri.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

We left the meadow area and headed for a stream which has grassland on one side and woodland on the other.

On the way we noted an aphid, Anoecia corni, known as the Dogwood aphid;

Photograph: John Martin

And the 4-spotted form of a 2-spot ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

It started to rain again, but it was very light. 

We carried on, taking the path between the woodland and the stream (I am sure this path was not there the last time we visited this site).

Not much was found but the rain was getting a bit heavier.

After a while there was a crossing point where the stream was quite shallow and we used this to get to the grassland on the other side.

This grass had not been cut and getting through it took quite an effort. But there were lots of tracks that made that task easier (when you found them).

We were happy pottering in this area until we noticed that the rain had increased significantly in wetness, so we decided to abandon the site and head for home.

But before we left we managed to locate a Long-winged conehead.

Photograph: David Williams

My thanks to Telford and Wrekin Council for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing and to Sue and Neil for the excellent refreshments. My gratitude to the photographers for their wonderful images and allowing me to use them in this report.

 

Manoeuvres

Wednesday 18th September, Nesscliff Training Area

This outing was to the Ministry of Defence site close to Nesscliffe. For some reason the MOD have dropped the “e” and the site is signposted as Nesscliff Training Area.

Following a Dipterists' Forum meeting that visited the MOD area on Salisbury Plain our fly man was able to establish a contact with the MOD. He used this to gain access to the Nesscliff site. However, it took a great deal of effort accompanied by lots of frustration to get us in, but it came to fruition on this Wednesday as we met at the gates to the site.

The first thing we did on arrival is get back in the cars and leave.

We drove to another entrance where we made our way towards the area of the site we wanted to visit.

After driving along the track for a while we parked by a disused building.

But this was not our destination.

Arranging ourselves into as few cars as possible we proceeded to our final parking spot.

This series of manoeuvres was repeated in reverse at the end of our visit, apart from returning to the site entrance gates. We went straight home instead.

We started in in an area of grassland close to where we parked. Nearby was a Helicopter landing spot. Overhead, not too far away, was a helicopter. We assumed it was coming in to land, but it did not. It just flew around the site for what seemed like the rest of the morning.

When this area had been scouted out prior to our visit it was uncut grassland. 

It was uncut no longer!

However, a small island of long grass with a few trees and bushes had been retained, and this was the target of our initial searches.

After a while we moved on, following a track that would take us to our second target site, a large area of wet grassland. The track was bordered by a decent hedgerow, some mature trees and a few grassland clearings.

The track then crossed a field in which some cattle were grazing. We moved fairly swiftly across this field to an area of woodland where we had our lunch.

Lunch over we explored the woodland before ambling on the large area of wet grassland, where we spent most of the afternoon.

The vegetation was quite tall and difficult to walk through but, fortunately, cattle had roamed the area before us which had created some tracks that we could follow more easily.

This grassland was surrounded on two sides by woodland and on the others by hedgerow. 

After a good search of the grassland to see what we could find we concentrated on the woodland and hedgerows, before reassembling close to the track that had brought us to this part of the site.

A decision had to be made.

Return the shorter way, retracing our steps, or take a longer route.

Never ones for backing down from a challenge, we took the longer route, keeping an eye out for species of interest as we progressed.

Eventually we returned to the cars and undertook our reverse set of manoeuvres.

What a lot of words…

And no pictures to brighten up the text.

For this report I decided to tell the tale of the day and then present the pictures of some of the things we found.

Here they are.

But first, although the habitats were not particularly inspiring we did manage to find three species that had never been recorded in the county before.

A frit fly, Lasiochaeta pubescens. I do not have a photograph of the fly we found but a photograph of one can be seen by following this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sjthomasbotany4/53203169533/in/pool-chloropidaeuk

A Sepsid fly, Themira leachii.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

And a wasp, Eupelmus vesicoloris.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

One of the first observations was two species. A 7-spot ladybird with a cocoon of the parasitic wasp Dinocampus coccinellinae between its legs.

Photograph: Maria Justamond

I am afraid this is an example of a rather gruesome relationship. An adult wasp seeks out a ladybird. It oviposits an egg into the ladybird. The egg hatches within the ladybird’s body and develops within the live insect. The final instar of the wasp emerges from the ladybird’s abdomen. It then spins a silken cocoon between the ladybird’s legs and pupates. The ladybird is trapped and usually dies of starvation as a result.

Back to the photographs!

A Ruby tiger moth larva.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A weevil, we believe to be a Sitona species but do not know which one.

Photograph: John Martin

A fly with distinctive orange patches at the base of its wings, often seen basking on sunlit vegetation, Mesembrina meridiana.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A pair of Ivy ladybirds.

Photograph: Maria Justamond

The nymph of our largest planthopper, Ledra aurita.

Photograph: Maria Justamond

A leaf beetle, Galerucella lineola.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Field grasshopper.

Photograph: David Williams

Another beetle, this time a rove beetle, Micropeplus staphylinoides.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A small ladybird, Rhyzobius litura.

Photograph: David Williams

A carrion beetle, Phosphuga atrata.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A longhorn beetle, Pogonocherus hispidus.

Photograph: David Williams

A harvestman, Paroligolophus agrestis.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A very large moth larva, an Elephant hawk-moth.

Photograph: David Williams

Another leaf beetle, Chrysolina banksii.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

An Angle shades moth.

Photograph: Maria Justamond

A mirid bug, usually found on alders, hawthorns and birches, Pantilius tunicatus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A sawfly larva that has yet to be identified.

Photograph: John Martin

A Common rough woodlouse.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A bee, a recent colonist of this region, which feeds at Ivy flowers, Colletes hederae.

Photograph: John Martin

A ground bug that is associated with nettles, Heterogaster urticae.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A weevil with very long and fine rostrum, Curculio glandum.

 

Photograph: David Williams

A fairly common beetle, but it could be either Oulema melanopsis or Oulema duftschmidi. The two species are indistinguishable based on external features so they are combined for our purposes and called Oulema melanopsis agg.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Another harvestman, Opilio canestrini.

Photograph: John Martin

A 22-spot ladybird

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Common darter.

Photograph: John Martin

A fairly distinctive spider Diaea dorsata.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

For some relief from all these invertebrates, a plant, Marsh cinquefoil, which likes wet, boggy places, fens and peaty meadows.

Photograph: John Martin

A collection of ladybirds. In size order, a 14-spot, a 16-apot and Rhyzobius litura.

Photograph: Maria Justamond

And finally, has anyone any idea what this is?

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Fordhall Farm Postcript

I have a confession to make. 

I was sent the following photographs before I prepared the report on this visit. Regrettably I forgot all about them and did not include them.

So, with apologies to the photographer, here they are.

Our favourite parasitic wasp, the tiny Callitula pyrrhogaster.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A pair of woodlice; the first is a Common striped woodlouse.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

The second a Common shiny woodlouse.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A hoverfly, Rhingia campestris.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A staphylinid beetle, Metopsia clypeata.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A moth, Argyresthia goedartella.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Garden spider.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

An adult of the mirid bug mentioned in the report, Pantilius tunicatus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A wasp, no idea what it is, but it is a wonderful metallic colour.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

An ichneumon wasp which may be Ichneumon sarcitorius.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A female Rhinoceros beetle.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And, finally,  a leaf beetle that is uncommon in the county of Shropshire, Plagiodera versicolora.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

My thanks to the Ministry of Defence for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing. My admiration and appreciation to the photographers for their excellent images and allowing me to use them in this report.