Dame Edna's Glasses

Wednesday 26th August 2026, Abbey Manor, Buildwas

 
This week saw a return trip to Abbey Manor, a private residence and event venue, which we visted last November. Its long history started in the 12^th century when it was originally the abbot’s lodging and infirmary of the adjoining Buildwas Abbey. After the abbey’s dissolution it became in turn a private mansion, a farm and, much more recently, Ironbridge Power Station’s social club.
 
Our investigations began in the car park, an extensive Box hedge proving irresistible to those armed with beating trays. An initially puzzling caterpillar was dislodged.

Eventually, the light of realization dawned, helped by two rather large clues in the form of the host plant and an adult moth which was beaten out alongside it: it was a Box Moth larva!

A different moth also appeared:

This is Metalampra italica, a species which has moved into the area quite recently and is still represented in Shropshire by relatively few records.
A Green Crab Spider, Diaea dorsata, was another find.

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

We moved into the garden proper, where another crab spider, the familiar Goldenrod Crab Spider, Misumena vatia was an early discovery.

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Our Dipterist had a good day. His best finds came later, but the garden produced several nice flies. This is Palloptera (Toxonevra) muliebris. It has a habit of holding its ornate wings out at right angles to its body, which I believe leads it to be known informally as the Dame Edna fly!

The second fly to have its photo taken was this small Conopid, Thecophora atra. 

Among the shieldbugs, a single Woundwort Shieldbug was vacuumed,

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

whilst a Gorse Shieldbug was beaten from oak (of course!).

The smaller ladybirds were well represented. The first of these ‘micro ladybirds’ to appear was the smallest of the lot: a couple of Dot Ladybirds, extracted from an apple tree. At around 1.5mm long, this, along with the similarly diminutive Horseshoe Ladybird, is our smallest species.

Dwarfing it, at a mighty 3mm or so, is this Meadow Ladybird, extracted from the uncut edges of the lawn.

We moved on, into an area of flood meadow nearer to the Severn. 

photo: Neil Nash

Here, a third Micro Ladybird appeared, the Red-rumped Ladybird, Scymnus haemorrhoidalis.

We had noted Small Teasel back in November. Here it was again, mostly gone to seed.

photo: John Martin

More flies attracted attention. The Tachinids Tachina fera…

photo: John Martin

… and Linnaemyia picta,

photo: John Martin

plus a number of hoverflies, of which the largest was Volucella inanis. 

Also having a good day was our plant gall expert, who found sixteen species including Didymomyia tiliacea

photo: John Lyden

Adelges cooleyi, the Douglas Fir Adelgid

photo: John Lyden

The Butterbur Rust, Coleosporium petasitis (only the second county record)

photo: John Lyden

Hawthorn-Carrot Aphid, Disaphis crataegi, also rarely recorded - this was the fourth Shropshire record.

photo: John Lyden

Hawthorn Gall, Gymnosporangium sp., one of two or three species that can only be separated by DNA.

photo: John Lyden

Lunch beckoned. The day had threatened rain, but what it actually delivered was warmth and high humidity. We therefore camped in the shade of a large tree to munch on our sandwiches. Whilst we did so, a brief commotion overhead drew our attention to a pair of Sparrowhawks circling over us. This is the male.

photo: John Martin

Lunch over, we decided to head for the river. Finds continued to be made en route, including a smart bug, Malacocoris chlorizans.

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Cream-spot Ladybird was also recorded around this time.

photo: Neil Nash

Next, more botanical interest. This is Creeping Yellow-cress…

photo: John Martin

 Our route took us into woodland at the edge of the site. In an adjacent field was a stunning display of Colchicum autumnale, known rather inaccurately as Autumn Crocus, or less misleadingly as Meadow Saffron. Another name is Naked Ladies, which might possibly have lead to a cry of “lots of Naked Ladies in the field!” from the person who first spotted them. I hope they feel suitably disappointed in themselves..!

photo: John Martin

 We reached the river and climbed down onto the exposed shingle.

Unstable river shingle has proved to be a happy hunting ground for us in the past and today was no exception. Two county first flies were discovered, though neither was photographed on the day: Lonchoptera meijerei, a very scarce fly of stony streams and rivers and Dolichopus vigutorlum, a formerly very scarce fly that has been spreading in recent years but is still only sparsely recorded over the UK. Also found but not photographed was the beetle Anthicus antherinus which we believe to be only the second Shropshire record.
Among those species which were photographed were a rove beetle, Paederis littoralis,

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A caddisfly, Mystacides cf. azurea

photo: Neil Nash

A Water Measurer,

photo: Neil Nash

A shore bug, Saldula saltatoria,

photo: John Martin

A Banded Demoiselle,

photo: John Martin

and a snail, Bithnia tenticulata.

From here the only route was to retrace our steps, taking us back through the grounds and past a fine view of the abbey ruins.

photo: Neil Nash

As per our visit last November, the abbey proved an irresistible draw, so in we went, via a (usually) locked door from the Manor’s gardens. Vacuuming soon produced a 2-spot Ladybird.

Earlier in the day, in the flood meadow area, we had seen some rather early Ivy Bees, out well ahead of the flowering of their preferred plant. Here in the Abbey grounds, a Medieval herb garden display had been planted. This included some sort of fancy variety of mint, which was absolutely covered in them.

Also present was another species which we had seen in the flood meadow, a Bee-wolf. This is a male.

The lavender was also proving attractive, here to a Small White.

By now the sun and humidity had sapped our resolve to continue, so we didn’t! To finish this post, here is a fancy photo showing the herb garden attracting the attention of both insects and entomologists.

photo: Liz Roberts

Many thanks to our hosts for allowing us to return and indulge ourselves once again.
 
 
 
Photographs © the author except as noted.

Something Falling from the Sky?!

Wednesday 19th August 2026, The Villa, Betchcott

The Villa is an upland holding of about 11ha, managed for conservation and wildlife, set in rolling Shropshire countryside just beyond the northern limit of the Long Mynd. We parked at Picklescott Village Hall and were then ferried to the site by our hosts. The reason for this became clear as we ascended the lengthy driveway to their house, which would serve good use as a Land Rover test track! We arrived well and truly awake and immediately set about our investigations. Some ascended into the first field from whence this view looking back at the house is taken.

Others dallied in the garden area, investigating several Scots Pines, which duly produced a couple of Pine Ladybirds

plus several Conifer Ladybirds, Scymnus suturalis, one of the micro ladybird species, which are generally much smaller and less spotty than their more familiar relatives.

Up in the first field, attention was drawn immediately to the panoramic vista it afforded.

photo: John Martin

In the first picture The Wrekin can be seen on the horizon to the left of the frame, with the Lawley in a similar, but closer, position to the right.
This field had been cut, which, in combination with the inevitably dry, golden nature of the vegetation meant that there was not a great deal to detain us. We moved on into the next field. This had also been cut, but had the advantage of an uncut margin leading down to a small stream, plus some other slightly damper areas. These produced a few Common Green Grasshoppers

and a micro moth, Udea ferrugalis.

photo: John Martin

We worked our way around the margin of this field. In addition to the straw colour of the grassy areas, another alarming result of the drought was the distinctly autumnal look of the trees, hawthorns and rowans in particular having suffered, their foliage brown and their berries stunted and shrivelled. Not good news for autumn migrants.

photo: John Martin

Looking through these distressed trees into the next field, we spied uncut grass and wet, rushy flushes. A gate was located and in we went, the other side of the dividing boundary looking every bit as frazzled as the side we had just left.

The wet flushes were our primary aim, though Roesel’s Bush-crickets seemed almost as happy in the drier areas of uncut grass.

 This third field did indeed prove to be more productive than the first two and detained us for longer. A trio of weevils was photographed:
Exapion fuscirostre

photo: John Martin

Perapion violaceum

photo: John Martin

Sitona regensteinensis

photo: John Martin

A tortoise beetle, Cassida flaveola, appeared from one of the wet flushes,

as did a snail-killing beetle, Phosphuga atrata

and another beetle, Sermylassa halensis.

photo: John Martin

This sort of habitat is always likely to host Drinker Moths, which at this time of year are young larvae:

A Broom Moth larva was also spotted and recorded.

photo: John Martin

Lunch time approached. We congregated at the top of the field. Also congregating were some slightly threatening clouds. Their threat level increased until finally something almost unbelievable happened: it started to rain! The business of unpacking lunches (with the addition of some very warmly received cake from one of our participants) had to be briefly shelved while coats were donned and an umbrella unfurled. A thankfully unfrazzled Hawthorn was cowered under by some. This was a novel experience! For a few minutes the rain was really quite fierce, but before long it had passed overhead. From our lofty position at the top of the field we watched the storm moving away from us in a north-eastward direction.

Lunch and weather interruptions over, our next target was the boundary stream. This, though, was in a valley of remarkably vertiginous proportions. We considered the drop and christened it ‘Valley of Death’ (though it is more properly known as High Park Hollow)! A path along the top edge of the valley proved illusory, fizzling out before we had gone far and requiring us to climb back into the field again, over the fence. Before we did, a Small Heath...

photo: John Martin

and a Field Grasshopper...

photo: John Martin

posed in the gorse which fringed the drop. 

Back in the field again, more gorse finally produced a couple of Gorse Shieldbug nymphs.

By this time the group had fragmented, with people heading in various different directions. A couple of determined souls found another, only marginally less alarming route downwards and finally made it to the stream. Here Water Mint was flowering, attracting insects which included Volucella pellucens, a large, black and white hoverfly which used to be quite reasonably known as the Great Pied Hoverfly but has now been re-christened as the Pied Plumehorn.

photo: John Martin

Another hoverfly was also enjoying the flowers. I wonder if Syritta pipiens would be pleased to know that it has been labelled the Common Compost Fly? Mind you, the next fly in the book is called the Hairy Thickleg, so perhaps it got off lightly?

photo: John Martin

A Grayling was also seen down by the stream, somewhat surprisingly, but not photographed. A Speckled Wood was more co-operative.

photo: John Martin

Back up in the fields, the direction of travel was homing in on our starting point at the house. Smaller creatures were being vacuumed from the undergrowth. This is that rarest of things, a distinctive mite, Leptus trimaculatus.

The small wasp known properly as Callitula pyrrhogaster but christened by us “The Boy” had been common in vacuum samples all day. The red abdomen and vestigial wings are unique in combination.

Today we also found its fully winged relative Callitula bicolor, which has been named (can you guess?) the Winged Boy. It hardly needs saying that they can both be either male or female…

Time to head back to our hosts through the golden grass, occasionally punctuated by the lilac-blue of Harebells…

…and a return taxi ride back to the village hall. But not before we were served some delicious cookies by our hosts. A fine end to a very enjoyable day.    
  
 
Photographs © the author except as noted.