Polytrichum tease

Wednesday 19th February 2025, Tankerville SWT Reserve

Snow Flea update – none were found. As we are getting towards the end of the “Snow flea season” this will be the last update.

Unless we do find one!

The Shropshire Wildlife Trusts’s reserve at Tankerville is an area of upland grassland on a western-ish facing slope on The Stiperstones. It is grazed by a small number of sheep. Within the site there are several relics from the age when the area was used for mining lead.

Having parked, met and kitted up we made our way to the site. This involves quite a lengthy walk, firstly along the road from the parking spot as it descends to the entrance to Bergam Wood, then through Bergam Wood to eventually arrive at the site.

The problem with long walks is that the group gets distracted. 

And whatever measures I take to try and get us to the site reasonably promptly are rebutted by the habitats we pass through.

On this occasion, although we were under strict “No distractions” instruction, patches of Polytrichum moss were too inviting to resist. You already know the result of our efforts searching the moss.

One other distraction was this bryophyte Pogonatum aloides, known as Aloe haircap.

Photograph: John Martin

Just as we were closing in on the entrance to the site, we passed an area  of woodland carpeted in Polytrichum.

Once again we drew a blank.

The Polytrichum was teasing us.

At last we made first contact.

And, as a bonus, it was still the morning with lunchtime still a little way off.

Please note the headwear of the person passing through the gate. It will feature later.

There was lots of Gorse near the entrance. Searching this revealed a weevil, Exapion ilicis. This is often found on Gorse.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Were the weevil and spider squaring up for a fight?

Another pair of finds almost immediately after entering the site were the longhorn beetle Rhagium bifasciata and what may be a grub of the same species.

Photograph: David Williams

Photograph: David Williams

Slow progress was made along the lower path until we came to the ruins of a  couple of buildings. 

This area seemed a good spot for lunch.

But before we settled down for refreshments we rummaged around the vegetation covering the ruins and found a spider, Segestria senoculata.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Another find during the day (I am not sure when) was this lichen.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Our lichenologists explained that the mushroom like growths were not mushrooms but part of the lichen. 

[They are] "the spore producing structure, it's Baeomyces rufus.  The lichen is often seen as a green mass of small granulars without the 'mushrooms', so the fact that the bank was covered with the lichen and was fertile is good.  The structure is not a mushroom as the species is actually an ascomycete fungus, so it's a stalked apothecia producing lichen.”

We refreshed.

Refreshed, we continued our explorations.

Some of the group followed a path rising gently up the hill, others kept to the lower path. We all met again in a pleasant grassland.

Some of us at the top where the grassland gives way to some scattered trees in amongst ruins of buildings.

Some were at the bottom.

About halfway between was a mine shaft (fenced off to hinder the curious) a patch of spoil which had formed a small scree slope.

This seemed a good meeting place and everyone drifted towards it.

Having regathered we compared finds.

A slime mould, yet to be identified.

Photograph: John Martin

Our favourite wasp, Callitula pyrrhogaster.

Photograph: John Martin

A mirid bug Charagochilius gyllenhalii.

Photograph: John Martin

Another lichen, Peltigera hymenina.

And a staphylinid beetle, Olophrum piceum.

Photograph: John Martin

Then we were treated to another phenomenon. 

The hat was aglow!!

Photograph: David Williams

It was time to go.

But on our way back we allowed ourselves to be distracted.

Restrictions off, most people donned blinkers and headed straight back, or as straight back as the route would allow, to the cars.

Two or three dallied as they returned through Begram Wood and found a springtail, tentatively identified as Protaphorura aurantiaca, on some dead wood.

Photograph: John Martin

And finally a bunch of crusties.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Something for the lichenologists to study over a cup of tea.

We went home.

My thanks to Shropshire Wildlife Trust 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.

Natural graffiti

Wednesday 12th February 2025, Nils Quarry

Snow Flea update – none were found.

On this occasion we visited Nils Quarry in Pontesbury.

The site has had a chequered history. Its first use was as a quarry for quartzite. When the quarry was exhausted it was used for landfill. Now the landfill has been capped and nature allowed to take over.

Much of the site is woodland, and many of the quarries are only accessible by hacking your way through thick vegetation, their quarry faces peering through the tress mockingly saying “You can’t get to me!”.

The main quarry floor and, presumably, the capped surface of the landfill is now grassland.

As you can see from the photograph the grassland has been cut and, apart from a few tufts of grass and other vegetation, was very short, providing very little shelter for any creatures that wished to overwinter in that habitat.

Whilst most of the group headed off to the grassland to see what they could find in that area and its surrounding vegetation a couple of us headed into the woodland to look for Polytichum moss.

And we found some, a whole bankside’s worth.

This was scoured for some time but very little was found in residence, certainly no Snow fleas.

Having given up on the moss, attention was switched to some bramble nearby which was more fruitful, delivering us this Dotted border moth.

This is a male.

How do we know?

Easy…

It has fully developed wings.

The females of this species are flightless, although they do have substantial wing stubs.

Returning to the grassland and rejoining the others we caught up on what they had found in our absence. 

A pair of ladybirds, Rhyzobius litura (on the left of the following photograph) and 16-spot (on the right).

Photograph: David Williams

A pair of Scarlet tiger moth larvae.

Photograph: David Williams

A gall on ground-ivy known as the Lighthouse gall, caused by the larva of the fly Rondaniola bursaria.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A ground beetle, Bembidion aeneum.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a tiny wasp that has defied identification to date.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Now that we had returned would they find anything else.

The answer, of course, was “Yes”.

Another tiny ladybird, Nephus redtenbacheri. In the following photograph it is placed next to a 16-spot ladybird to give you an idea of its size.

Photograph: David Williams

At the end of the grassland furthest from the entrance was a picnic table. 

And we drifted towards it, spotting a 7-spot ladybird on the way.

Photograph: David Williams

The picnic table was a suitable spot for lunch, but we first checked out the nearby pool. Newts were spotted as they broke the surface of the water to take in air. They evaded our photographers’ efforts to capture this.

But here is the pool.

Lunch was declared and everyone magically appeared from wherever their wanderings had taken them.

We have no gong or whistle, but it happens every trip.

we then had the "lunchtime vac.", giving everyone a chance to huddle up and share some mutual warmth.

Photograph: Liz Roberts

Wandering back from an exploration of the woodland one of the group came across a couple of fungi.

The first was Candle-snuff fungus.

Photograph: Liz Roberts

And the second was a Scarlet elf cup.

Photograph: Liz Roberts

Unfortunately, there are two very similar fungi which look like this and cannot be separated to species without examining microscopically the spore it produces. This is not something that we undertook.

After lunch we wandered beyond the grassland into the woodland.

The path was very wet, muddy and difficult to walk on, but we persisted, pausing frequently to check out the vegetation bordering the path, finding a couple of beetles.

A hister beetle, Onthophilus striatus.

Photograph: David Williams

And a staphylinid beetle, Metapsia clypeata.

Photograph: David Williams

The day then rather fizzled out. Very little more was found, and we returned by various routes to the grassland and the picnic table.

The table was inspected closely to check for lichens.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Then after “One Final Vac” we headed home.

On the way out of the site we spotted a bench that had been made from a tree trunk and noticed it was decorated with natural graffiti, generated by the larvae of the Ash bark beetle.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

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.

Five Needles

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Shawbury Heath

Snow Flea update – none were found.

Crossbill update – I have now received a couple of photographs of Crossbills seen at Black Hill.

Photograph: John Martin

Photograph: John Martin

This outing was to the Forestry England plantation at Shawbury Heath. 

(Fortunately I noticed that the spell checker had changed Shawbury Heath to "Strawberry Heath".)

We were greeted at the site entrance by sunshine. But it did not last, gradually clouding over during the day. However, it did not rain.

Entering the site we soon came to a small patch of grassland which was suction sampled. The result of this activity was lots springtails and flies but very little else.

We moved on.

The entrance track was bordered by rather thick bramble which prevented access to the woodland on either side for much of its length.

The track ends at a T-junction with another path. The area here was much more open and the woodland was accessible. We took advantage and spent a good deal of time here.

There was plenty of Polytrichum moss, but our efforts to find Snow fleas were in vain, yet again.

There were two ways to go from this point.

To the left or to the right.

We went right, passing along between the trees. Again there was quite a bit of Polytrichum, but our searches were unsuccessful.

Passing a wide ditch that crossed the stream we paused for lunch and a good chat about this and that; some of it wildlife based, some of it not.

After lunch we ambled further along the path.

But…

The path changed from firm underfoot to very boggy and difficult to negotiate. 

Having negotiated a few yards of this we resigned ourselves to turning back.

Then…

A chance exploration of the area to our left led to an area that had been clear-felled and had now developed into a pleasant area of wet heathland.

We explored further.

In amongst the heather, ephemeral and permanent pools, and young conifers that had regenerated we found a few small trees of an unusual pine.

Photograph: John Martin

This is Pinus strobus, known as Weymouth pine. It is unusual in that it is a “Five needled” pine. That is 5 needles are clustered together within a sheath.

 

This feature gives the tree a softer look than other pines

Photograph: John Martin

As we went deeper into this area uncertainties about getting out the other side loomed large. 

We chickened out and retraced our steps and went home.

Ah, but we have not seen any photo of any furry, cuddly animals.

Well, there aren’t any!

However here are some of the far more delightful invertebrates that we saw during the day.

Starting with some ladybirds and other beetles.

7-spot ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

Cream-spot ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

A collection of Pine ladybirds.

Photograph: David Williams

A  ground beetle, not yet identified to species but probably a Bembidion species.

Photograph: John Martin

A weevil, Protapion assimile.

Photograph: David Williams

A staphylinid beetle, Tychus niger.

Photograph: David Williams

Another ground beetle, tentatively identified as Pterostichus madidus.

Photograph: John Martin

And a third ground beetle, probably an Amara species.

Photograph: John Martin

And now a couple of springtails.

Dicyrtomina ornata.

Photograph: David Williams

And Dicyrtomina saundersi.

Photograph: David Williams

Unfortunately the third springtail which was lunch for the pseudoscorpion remains unidentified. The pseudoscorpion is Neobisium carcinoides.

Photograph: David Williams

A bug, a Parent bug.

Photograph: David Williams

And a hibernating wasp, Vespula vulgaris.

Photograph: David Williams

Finally, one of the group took home some moss and sorted through it hoping to find an elusive Snow flea.

He didn’t.

But he did find  quite an assemblage of tine creatures, mostly in the 1-2mm size range. Here are some of the photographs he took. None have been identified as yet.

The assemblage.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

To give you an idea of their size, here are a couple of the creature against a 1mm scale.

Photograph: Nigel Jpones

This is a Chalcid wasp.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

And finally, what we call a “Popeye” mite due its bulging front legs.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

My thanks to Forestry England 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.