Four Seasons in One Day

 Wednesday 25th March 2026, Rudge Farm

 It has been a couple of years since our last visit to Rudge Farm, which sits close to the Staffordshire border near Chesterton. A large arable farm, it contains an area of regenerating heathland on sandy soil, which is being managed for wildlife.
 
We gathered in what could be described as typical March weather. Sunny periods alternated with sharp showers of both rain and hail. One constant feature was the wind, which was both fierce and freezing. Here is what a sunnier moment looked like:

photo: Keith  Fowler

And here is a collection of invertebrates collected during a hail storm - complete with hailstones!

photo: John Martin

The woodlouse above is Philoscia muscorum and there are also a capsized 16-spot ladybird and a Pogonognathellus longicornis springtail in there among other things.
 
We parked at the corner of an arable field that had previously been used to grow asparagus. Inspections of the edges of this field (shown above in the first photo) produced two nice liverwort species. This is Common Crystalwort, Riccia sorocarpa.

And this, much rarer liverwort is a Sphaerocarpus species (Balloonwort). It is one of two, which can only be separated by the structure of their spores. Either one would be a Shropshire first. A sample is now maturing on the recorder’s kitchen windowsill in the hope that it will ripen, produce spores and reveal its true identity.

photo: John Martin

Vacuum sampling in the grassy margins around this area produced plentiful finds. One nice species was this small rove beetle, Anthobium unicolor.

Others included several ladybirds. In ascending order of spots: 16-, 22- and 24-spot.

photos:  Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Pill Millipede

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Small Nettle Weevil,  Nedyus quadrimaculatus

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And another weevil, Andrion regensteinense. 

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Progressing along the edge of this field brought us in due course to a wide, grassy track. 

This track descends, then ultimately leads back upwards to the right, to the aforementioned area of heathland. Black Oil-beetles, Meloe proscarabaeus have been recorded on this heathland for several years but now seem to be spreading, having been seen all along this grassy track in recent times. We kept our eyes peeled, but in the meantime some gorse was inspected, producing a Gorse Shieldbug

And a Gorse Weevil.

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

About halfway along the track the first oil-beetle was spotted - a male, with a second male appearing a little further on. The sunny spells were giving enough warmth for them to be ploddingly active.

photo: John Martin

When the sun disappeared, though, the wind got up even further and it was a different story, for both beetles and humans alike. All were frozen to something like a catatonic state! Closer to the heath and in a cold spell, this beetle was discovered and gave every appearance of being dead. It was prodded, whereupon it defensively reflex-bled haemolymph (the ‘oil’ which gives the species their common name) from its knees, demonstrating that it was alive but very cold. Fortunately the next sunny interval was not far away.

As far as I am aware, all of the half a dozen or so oil-beetles that we saw were males except for this one female (note the much less funky antennae), seen when we finally reached the heath.

Up on the heath (or, more correctly, on the sandy track at its edge) finds other than oil-beetles included the hoverfly Eristalis pertinax

photo: John Martin

Another  fly,  Geomyza tripunctata 

photo: John Martin

And a stilt bug, Berytinus crassipes

Lunch was declared, the group retreating to the shelter of the woods to escape the wind. By the time that rations had been consumed, another sunny spell had arrived, transforming the scene once again.

photo: Keith Fowler

Around this time several non-invertebrate finds were made: Yellow Brain Fungus

photo:  Nigel Cane-Honeysett

False Puffball, a large and conspicuous slime-mould 

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And Dog-lichen, Peltigera canina

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Plus the fly Bibio lanigerus, a smaller relative of the familiar St Mark’s Fly so often seen in Spring.

photo: John Martin

Turning to begin the return loop of our walk, we took a path along the other side of the heath.

This descended to a valley bottom and stream, back into woodland (and shelter!). Here the vegetation produced a Forest Bug, Pentatoma rufipes nymph 

Plus spiders including Episinus angulatus

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a pirate spider, Ero species, with Neottiura bimaculata following in its wake.

photo:  Nigel Cane-Honeysett

The valley bottom was reached

photo: Keith Fowler

and a darkling beetle, Nalassus laevioctostriatus found.

A final, pleasing find was Moschatel (or Town Hall Clock, named for its multi-faceted flowerheads) which carpeted the floor near to the stream. 

photo: John Martin

A very productive day despite the often challenging conditions. Thank  you to our hosts for allowing us to return to this splendid site.  
  
 
Photographs © the author except as noted

Second Time Lucky

 Wednesday 18th March 2026, Block Wood, Ceri Forest

Block Wood lies just over the national border in Mongomeryshire and is in the care of Natural Resources Wales (NRW). The woodland is mixed, though that mix is very heavily skewed towards Norway and Sitka Spruce. The Kerry/Ceri Ridgeway long-distance path runs through the wood, which lies at approximately 450m altitude, giving sweeping views across the surrounding countryside. Wood Whites were discovered here last year.
 
This was our second attempt at visiting this site during the current Winter Programme season. The first, on November 19th, was cancelled on the morning of the visit, when the scenery in the area looked like this:

photo: John Lyden

Fortunately, the contrast could not have been greater for our second attempt, clear blue skies and warmth being the order of the day. Some people even dared to remove their coats!!

Beating and vacuuming the tussocky grass along the main ride (which is in fact the Kerry Ridgeway path) soon produced two micro ladybird species: Meadow Ladybird, Rhyzobius litura

And Red Marsh Ladybird, Coccidula rufa 

Beating the spruces, which are very depauperate tree species unless you like springtails (and then only one or two species) produced one 10-spot Ladybird. This was the first and last invertebrate of note to emerge from these conifers until well after lunch.

 
Back to the grass tussocks and a Ringlet larva fell into a beating tray.

Moving further along the ride, perhaps the best find of the day was made, without need of vacuum, net or tray. A mating pair of tachinid flies, Tachina ursina, discovered by sight. Many photos were taken.

photo: John Martin

Eventually they separated, whereupon one of the happy couple decided that an insect net made the perfect basking site. It was very reluctant to give this prime location up, returning repeatedly when disturbed.

Other species found along the ridgeway path included the weevil Sitona regensteinensis

And the bugs Cymus claviculus

And Scolopostethus decoratus

We reached a ‘T’ junction and turned northwards off the ridgeway, eventually heading deeper into the woodland. However this wide junction detained us for some time, its surroundings containing an area of heathland with heather and gorse. A large and striking find from the heather was the rove beetle Staphylinus dimidiaticornis.

Some time after this, the second and final find of note from the spruces was made: an Eyed Ladybird, one of the less picky of the conifer-specialist ladybirds. Quite a variable species, this individual completely lacked the pale rings around the spots which give the species its name.

Another bug appeared which admitted to identification (our bug expert also being absent for the day). This was the attractive stilt bug, Berytinus minor.

We reached another crossroads in our lives and stopped for contemplation.

photo: Liz Roberts

Finally, after examining a considerable quantity of gorse, the first Gorse Shieldbug was spotted, which was quickly followed by a second one. 

A third micro ladybird species appeared. This was the smallest of the lot, the Red-patched Ladybird, Nephus redetenbacheri, barely 2mm long.

At the other end of the scale was a big  bruiser of a spider. Probably (but not certainly, as our spiderman was also absent) Coelotes atropos.

The day seemed to be drawing to its natural conclusion. We had reached a point whereby the only course of action was to retrace our steps, there not being any circular route around the wood. More contemplation in the sunshine seemed to be in order, the displays of mosses and lichens making suitable subjects, before we headed home after a very enjoyable day in the sunshine. Thank you to NRW for allowing us to survey this site.

photo: Liz Roberts

 
 
Photographs © the author except as noted

Very, Very Frightening

 Wednesday 11th March 2026, Atcham Old Airfield

Atcham Airfield had a relatively short operational life, the majority of which was as a World War Two base for the United States Army Air Force. Prior to this, RAF Fighter Command flew Spitfires from here. When handed over to the Americans, two other aircraft were used to train their pilots. Our Arachnologist asked us to guess which these might be, offering the clue that they were “very, very frightening”. Can you guess? Answer at the bottom of the page (no peaking!). Now reverted to farmland within the wider Attingham Park estate (except the buildings which became Atcham Business Park), we were invited to survey the site by the National Trust, who plan to incorporate this area into an ‘outdoor hub’ public amenity site.
 
The weather was generally bright and sunny, but the wind was cold and fierce. Former airfields do not provide much shelter! Over the course of the day several signs of Spring were observed, for example mining bees, flowers opening etc. But invertebrate activity was undoubtedly curtailed by the wind and no butterflies braved it.
 
Early efforts were directed towards the grassy areas along the old runway, the first vacuum sample producing several ladybird species, including copious Meadow Ladybirds

A 22-Spot Ladybird,

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a 7-spot with what looks like a cranefly pupa (which was very wriggly).

A few 16-spots were also present, but the below photo was taken later when a grass tussock was tapped and decanted them in considerable numbers.

Wandering towards the business park in search of shelter from the wind, I tapped a fir tree and was rewarded with a Harlequin Ladybird (left, not very thrilling) and an Eyed Ladybird (right, much nicer).

Of the solitary bee species that we saw, probably the two most numerous were Gwynne’s Mining Bee, Andrena bicolor

And Fabricius’ Nomad Bee, Nomada fabriciana.

Both these photos are of the less distinctive males. Nomad bees are nest parasites, mainly of Andrena species mining bees. Fabricius’ Nomad parasitises Gwynne’s Mining Bee, so it was perhaps not surprising that we saw the two together.
 
The group gravitated towards an area of woodland in the hope that it might offer some shelter. It didn’t, really, but the edges of it did produce more finds, including several shieldbugs.

Hairy Shieldbug. Photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Pied shieldbug

Blue Shieldbug

A Bordered Shieldbug turned up later in the day.

Very late indeed for it - it was dead. A living one was  found subsequently but not photographed.

 
Thistle Lacebugs are common enough but always an attractive find.

Spring flowers were beginning to show themselves:

Field Pansy

Common Whitlowgrass. Photo: John Martin

Weevils, once a beetle group to be dismissed by us as too difficult, are now among our core finds. Here are some identified by our Deputy Weevilist (the Chief Weevilist being unavailable due to the unfortunate necessity of having to work for a living…).

Apion frumentarium. Photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Exapion ulicis. Photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Andrion regenteinense. Photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Micro moths are another group which we tackle with more relish than formerly, largely (as with the weevils and most other groups) due to the efforts of one of our members. In this case (literally) the larvae were confirmed by the County Recorder.

Pammene giganteana. Photo: John Martin

Taleporia tubulosa. Photo: John Martin

Nemophora degeerella. Photo: John Martin

Next, one or two miscellaneous finds, including the rear end of a centipede (the centipede was intact, its just the photo which is incomplete).

Myrmica scabrinodis.  Photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Armadillidium deepressum. Photo:  John  Martin

Schendyla nemorensis,. Photo: John Martin

Late in the day this very splendid little spider turned up. It is Micaria micens and it dazzled us all with its iridescent coat.

And finally, as we retraced our tracks to the car parking area (another bit of former runway) a Dark-edged Bee-fly, Bombylius major, landed almost at our feet for a quick bask in the afternoon sunshine. 

A Spring first for most of us and a fitting way to end the day. 

Thank you to our hosts for allowing us access to this interesting site.

     
Quiz answer: Thunderbolts and Lightnings (any Freddie Mercury fans out there?).     
          
 
Photographs © the author except as noted