Mistletoe galore

Wednesday 19th March 2025, Colemere

Last week’s “get straight to the site” mentality was maintained for this visit to Colemere.

Granted it was only a 50 yard or so stroll between the car park and the site, but several members of the group were on site before I had got my boots on!

Once I managed to join them, they were, of course, huddled around bits of habitat close to the entrance.

I immediately followed suit, attracted by the hawthorn that was loaded with mistletoe. 

Why was there so much mistletoe on this on tree? It is not as though there was a lot of the plant scattered about the site. In fact I do not recall seeing any on any other tree.

Curious!

I like to look at Mistletoe for specialist insects. But they were all safe on this occasion as 99% of the plant was out of reach.

Frustrating!

Before I get any further, I will report two significant fly species finds.

Philotelma nigripenne.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

This is a new species for the county. It is a “shore” fly, mainly a coastal species, with few inland records. 

Angioneura acerba.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

This is only the second record of this blowfly for the county. It is regarded as quite a rare fly, strongly associated with fen habitat and thought to be a snail parasite in its larval stage.

These were both excellent finds.

Attention switched from the mistletoe ladened tree to the shore of the mere, where the vegetation at the edge was searched extensively, with the usual scrum around a tray to see what had been unearthed.

A Dingy footman moth larva.

Photograph: David Williams

An adult moth, Depressaria daucella.

Photograph: John Martin

A spider, Larinoides cornutus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Water ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

A weevil, Sitona lineatus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

The shoreline started to lose its attraction and we meandered our way onto the large meadow that borders the lake on the eastern side.

Here we were drawn to an area of wetland. Only the edges were accessible to those of us with boots on, but those equipped with wellingtons could get in deeper.

Finds in this area included a Drinker moth larva.

Photograph: David Williams

A colourful rove beetle, Paederus riparius.

Photograph: John Martin

And we accidentally flushed out a Jack snipe that took to the wing.

Photograph: John Martin

That most important time had arrived…

Lunch.

But where to have it?

Where we were was rather wet.

However, on the edge of the mere, was a bench.

And it was unoccupied.

Over we traipsed and settled down for our picnics and a chat.

Lunch over we spent more time on the edge of the mere, spotting another Jack snipe in flight.

Photograph: John Martin

And another Water ladybird, with paler coloured elytra.

Photograph: David Williams

A few of us wandered into the wood.

Finding little, except the leaf mine caused by the feeding of a larva of the fly Phytomyza ilicis within a Holly leaf, we returned into the meadow.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A weevil, Mecinus pyraster, was located and photographed.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

In the nick of time as it prepared to take off.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Checking the wet vegetation at the side of the meadow revealed several Water measurers, a long and very thin aquatic bug.

Photograph: David Williams

The group split into three.

One group wandered off back into the wood, another meandered over to the other side of the meadow, and the third stayed put.

Eventually we all met up gain on the other side of the meadow.

In the meantime we found a fly, Eudasyrphora cyanella.

Photograph: John Martin

A beetle, a species of Helophorus.

Photograph: David Williams

And an early showing of Marsh marigold.

Photograph: John Martin

The late warm sunshine then attracted a couple of hoverflies to visit us to see what we were up to. Here is one of them, an Eristalis pertinax.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

This seemed an appropriate time to call a halt to the day. We made our way slowly off the site, stopping on the edge of the mere to peer at a distant Scaup (so I was informed as all I could see were a series of dots on the mere’s surface). And went home.

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

In absentia

Wednesday 12th March 2025, Beckbury Meadows

This visit concentrated on the grasslands surrounding the Mad Brook, close to Harrington Hall.

I was absent, holidaying in Norfolk. 

You will be pleased to know that no-one has given me a detailed report from the day other than the few words I will use below. So, there will be no need to wade through my waffling to get to the photographs. 

You will be glad to know that I have been sent lots of photographs.

The group met in the farmyard, then, as I was not there to jolly them along, usually unsuccessfully, they walked the ¼ mile or so straight to the site.

I found this very hard to believe, but I have heard it from more than one source!

Here they are on their way.

Photograph: Neil Nash

Upon entering the field bordering the Mad Brook, they, as one member of the group put it, “remembered they were Joy of Wildlife and did not move again until lunchtime”!

Here is the Mad Brook on its way to join the River Worfe a mile or so further downstream.

Photograph: Neil Nash

The reason for their reluctance to move was not idleness, but that the habitat they found themselves in was very productive and worth exploring in detail.

After lunch they did try and access another part of the site upstream but were unable to find a suitable way in, so they amused themselves looking at accessible areas nearby.

That’s it.

Here are the photographs, roughly in the order they were found during the day.

We start with a new species for the group, a Horse leech, Haemopsis sanguisuga.

Photograph: John Martin

A Hairy snail, Trochulus hispidus.

Photograph: John Martin

A snail-killing fly, Hydromya dorsalis.

Photograph: John Martin

A Red marsh ladybird, Coccidula rufa.

Photograph: David Williams

A spider, a juvenile female Araniella species.

Photograph: David Williams

The tiny flower of a Hazel.

Photograph: John Martin

A Common striped woodlouse, Philoscia muscorum.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A beetbug, Piesma maculatum.

Photograph: John Martin

A ground beetle, Demetrias atricapillus.

Photograph: John Martin

A Brooklime leaf beetle, Prasocuris junci.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A rather cute weevil, Ceutorhynchus erysimi.

Photograph: John Martin

An rather angular spider, aptly named Episinus angulatus.

Photograph: John Martin

A springtail stalking beetle, Notiophilus bigattatus.

Photograph: John Martin

A rove beetle, a Stenus species, and a Meadow ladybird, Rhyzobius litura.

Photograph: David Williams

A Footman moth larva.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Clouded-Bordered Brindle moth larva.

Photograph: David Williams

A Celery leaf beetle, Phaedon tumidulus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A lacebug, Tingis cardui.

Photograph: David Williams

Another rove beetle and. this time, one we could identify, Anthobium atrocephalum.

Photograph: David Williams

A ground beetle, Paradromius linearis.

Photograph: John Martin

A Bronze shieldbug, Troilus luridus.

Photograph: David Williams

Another weevil, Sitona lineatus.

Photograph: John Martin

A froghopper, Stenocranus minutus.

Photograph: John Martin

When I first saw the next photograph, I had no idea what it was. I have been told it is a flatworm, Dendrocoelum lacteum.

Photograph: Neil Nash

They are found under submerged stones and under leaves at the edge of watercourses, They feed on small invertebrates found in the water.

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

Apricating

Wednesday 5th March 2025, Old Oswestry Hill Fort

A glorious dawn greeted us for this Wednesday outing.

However the red colours that, according to the well known saying, signify a day of bad weather were very misleading. What followed was a day of very warm, bright sunshine, making it hard to believe it was very early March.

We assembled in the car park by the Western Entrance to the large hill fort that overlooks modern day Oswestry.

The lichenologists were soon at work examining the gate to the site.

Making our way around them we came to a large board with information about the site.

The top of the hill fort is, now, a large expanse of grassland, but it is surrounded by a number of ramparts that form ascending concentric rings around the central area.

It was the valley between a couple of the ramparts about half way up the hill on the western face that we investigated first.

Not finding a great deal we moved up to the next rampart and explored a series of pools that had formed in the valley between the ramparts and buttress-like features radiating outwards.

Despite extensive searching of the vegetation around the pools very little of interest to us was revealing itself.

One insect we did find, in gorse, was a Gorse shieldbug. Unfortunately, it had had succumbed and was lifeless.

Photograph: David Williams

As the morning warmed up we decided to abandon our searches in this area and moved towards the ramparts that were south facing and warmer.

The downside was that this area was grazed by sheep and they had done a grand job chomping the grass down to pristine lawn length, denying small creatures places to hide and make their living.

Here is one surveying its work!

Photograph: David Williams

Looking out over the countryside, a flock of Linnets was spotted flying around some trees.

Yes, those black dots are Linnets!

Lunch was declared.

The sun was at its highest in the sky and it was very warm. This persuaded a few people to settle down to a short period apricating.

Before this week I would have called this sunbathing, but I have been introduced to apricating by my granddaughter, via my daughter as we sat in a shower of rain whilst visiting a nature reserve.

We roused ourselves.

And we climbed up to higher ramparts.

Some of us made it to the top where the sheep grazing the grassland under the clear blue sky was reminiscent of photographs of wildebeest and other large mammals roaming the grasslands of Africa.

Turning away from the grassland here is a view over one of the higher ramparts…

Photograph: David Williams

And looking eastwards, there on the horizon, is a hazy Wrekin.

You may have noticed that there is a lack of photographs of little beasts this week. This is not due to a failure of the photographers to photograph them, but our inability to find suitable subjects!

But here is a beetle, as yet unidentified, that we found in the afternoon.

Photograph: David Williams

We made our way back to the western side back into the area that was “Not grazed” but we still had very little success with our searches.

To finish here is a photograph of the information board speculating about the area that we had been exploring.

A wonderful site but, from our perspective, unfortunately, a disappointing day.

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