Cloudless Skies, Clouded Yellows

Before we arrive in Bicton, a brief return to Middle Spoad. The wonders of the IT age caused some photos of last week’s visit to arrive late, as they spent a couple of days loafing about in cyberspace before landing in my inbox….
You may remember the exceptional haul of creatures that were extracted from the River Clun. Well, here is another one: a River Limpet

Near, rather than actually associated with it, was a Walnut Orb-weaver spider

And this is a shot of what remained of the otherwise dry pond that was examined at the end of the day. The low water level had caused the pond-dipping platform to assume rather vertiginous proportions!

Photographs © Liz Roberts
 

Wednesday 8th July 2026, Dingle Farm, Bicton

This week saw a return visit to an arable farm, with free range chickens, sheep & Zebu cattle among other animals, and bounded to the north by the River Severn. It was another hot, sunny day, so we were keenly aware that there was also significant, shady woodland on site. Which was just as well, because the arable looked like this:

We nevertheless began in the fields, but chose a spot at the margin of one which was shaded by a line of mature trees. These were, of course, examined (from the shaded side) and produced a couple of photogenic species.
Hazel Leaf-roller

Oak Bush-cricket (a female nymph).

Down at ground level, vacuuming produced Target Number One from the grassy margin: The Boy aka Callitula pyrrhogaster

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Among a number of bugs were Capsus ater

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a Hairy Shieldbug

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Two small ladybirds next. Firstly a 16-spot

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Next an even smaller ‘micro’ species, Scymnus haemorrhoidalis, the Red-rumped Ladybird

A Swollen-thighed beetle (this one is a female; only males have the big thighs)

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Oulema obscura,

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a spider, Neottiura bimaculata.

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Meanwhile, some of us had retraced our steps to the polytunnels, bravely (or insanely) intent on examining them before the day heated them up any further. The only invertebrate which I photographed before escaping to the outside world, which suddenly seemed remarkably cool in comparison, was a Painted Lady larva, chomping its way through what I think was a Globe Artichoke but might have been a Cardoon. Either way, something like a giant thistle, their usual foodplant of choice.

Next destination was the farm’s dung heap, something else which generates heat. What was I thinking?? My target was the Lesser Earwig, a species which lives in such places. Within a couple of minutes I’d seen one but it dived into the depths and was gone. Much further fruitless searching followed before Sonia, our host, spotted one, a female, and grabbed her. And here she (the earwig) is.

Triumph! Sonia departed to clean up, having bravely gone in bare handed. I removed my gloves and did similar. I’d just about finished when I received a call: back at the polytunnels a Clouded Yellow had appeared on the thistles and was posing, slightly skittishly, for photos. Off I hurried. It was still there. Some mediocre shots of it sat on the thistles having been bagged, attempts were then made to capture it in flight. This proved to be rather challenging, my best being this one of it about to exit from view. There is a similarly flighty skipper in there too.

Oh, and who had initially spotted it and raised the alarm? Sonia, of course!

Time moved on and the day grew hotter. A plan was hatched to move to the shade of the woodland near to the river. This would also serve as the lunch spot. Our baggage was ferried across the parched fields in the farm’s Land Rover, as indeed were some of the participants. Others walked it, slightly downhill and relieved of the burden of their backpacks. Arriving at our destination, the field margin against the woods was a sea of flowers, mostly thistles.

photo: Keith Fowler

Butterflies abounded here, particularly Painted Ladies.

photo: John Martin

Also spotted here were several White-legged Damselflies, a sign of the proximity of the river.

Other, vital items had also been ported in the Land Rover: a magnificent lunch, laid on by our hosts! As we had also brought our own lunches, an extremely jolly time was had over the next hour! We didn’t, in truth, move a great deal for the rest of the day, the attractions of the shade and the food rather outweighing the desire to explore. But our spot did have a river view…

photo: Keith Fowler

…complete with a small, sandy beach which we explored instead. This beach afforded views of duelling male Banded Demoiselles, as well as more White-legged Damselflies.

It also produced some finds for the vacuum, notably this ground beetle, Asaphidion curtum.

Further finds from either the beach or the adjacent woodland included Pithanus maerkelii

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A rove beetle, Tachyporus obtusus 

Another rove, Tachynus cf rufipes

And a spider weevil, Exomias araneiformis.

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Late in the day a large harvestman was captured and proved fiendishly tricky to identify. Eventually, after much scrutiny and photography, it has been declared to be a female Mitopus morio.

With that, we exited the woods and reverse-migrated across the fields, some using the Land Rover, others under their own steam. Those on foot were rewarded for their efforts by an encore Clouded Yellow performance. The same one? A different one? Who knows? It appeared, posed on a thistle and was gone again. A super end to a hot, not very active but thoroughly enjoyable day. Many thanks to our hosts for allowing us to do what we do and for feeding us, transporting us, and finding most of the best finds!

 
  
 
Photographs © the author except as noted.

Shingle Tingles

Wednesday 1st July 2026, Middle Spoad, Newcastle on Clun

Our visit this week took us to a former farm, through which the River Clun flows. This floods the meadows in winter and has a defining influence on the character of the land. The mature hedgerows and trees include willows and alders, plus several Black Poplars.
We began our investigations in a particularly scenic meadow, though we had crossed a bridge over the River Clun to get there, noting the extensive areas of exposed river shingle as we did so.

The meadow was made all the more attractive in the July sunshine by good numbers of butterflies.

Small Skipper

(both Small and Essex Skippers were present, but only the former was photographed)

Ringlet

Meadow Brown. Photo: John Martin

Small Tortoiseshell

Painted Lady

Aside from the several adult Painted Ladies, a nearly full-grown larva was spotted on knapweed.

Painted Lady larva

This provoked closer scrutiny of thistles (their usual first choice foodplant), where several others were  subsequently found.
The many other finds from the grassland areas included this Tachinid fly, Phasia pusilla

photo: Nigel Jones

And a number of hoverflies including Eristalis intricaria. 

photo: John Martin

Meanwhile, the grasses themselves were being scrutinised, and two parasitic fungi noted. This is Epichloe typhina (‘Choke’) on False Oat Grass

photo: John Lyden

And this is Ustilago filiformis (a cereal smut) on Glyceria maxima. 

photo: John Lyden

While investigations of the grassland continued, others moved to the margins and sampled the hedges. This revealed a couple of bug species in particular abundance: Heterotoma planicornis

And nymphs of the Tree Damselbug, Himacerus apterus

The attractive nymph of Deraeocoris ruber was too smart not to be photographed.

Among the many insects extracted from the oaks were a Forest Bug

And the micro moth Carcina quercana.

At this point we reach the first of several county firsts recorded on the day. The Black Poplars, notable organisms in themselves, were hosting a ‘pouch gall’ Pemphigus populinigrae, not previously recorded in Shropshire.

photos: John Lyden

A Kidney-spot Ladybird larva was beaten from one of the many willows

Continuing the river-influenced theme, various sizes of yellow sally stonefly were absolutely ubiquitous in everything we beat or swept.

Moving closer to the river, Alder Tongue Gall was recorded.

photo: John Lyden

The Alders were not having an easy time of it – these galls are caused by Taphrina sadebeckii. This has been recorded in Shropshire only once before, last century and at the other end of the county in Colemere.

photo: John Lyden

I stated above that we began our investigations in the meadows. This is not entirely correct. Our Dipterist was so taken with the river shingle that he made straight for it and then spent much of his day in it.

photo: Keith Fowler

Others joined him later. To me, river shingle means 5-spot Ladybirds, a scarce species in Britain. In Shropshire it has been recorded a couple of times, in river shingle at the Welsh edges of the county, often frustratingly on the wrong (ie Welsh) side of the river! Well, there weren’t any, at which point my interest waned, beyond snapping a male Beautiful Demoiselle.

It is fortunate that the rest of the group was more diligent, because this habitat turned out to be a goldmine of super finds. To begin with, here is a Giant Lacewing, Osmylus fulvicephalus, a most splendid creature. Most of the relatively small number of Shropshire records of this species are from the Wyre Forest and this seems to be the first one from anywhere in the southwest of the county.

A Figwort Sawfly was taken from the figwort growing on the shingle.

photo: Nigel Jones

More strongly associated with shingle or river sediment were the spider hunting wasp Anoplius concinnus, with dozens of males seen running around over a raised bed of gravel, a very local shore fly species, Athyroglossa glabra and an equally local horsefly species, Tabanus cordiger.

Tabanus cordiger. Photo: John Martin

Next, Alliopsis pilitarsis, another county second record, but of a very scarce fly with very few records nationally.

photo: Nigel Jones

And finally (for the exposed river shingle) three notable beetles. The first two are both county first records: the little click beetle Zorochros minimus

photo: Caroline Uff

And the rove beetle Philonthus rubripennis.

photo: Caroline Uff

Also found was the ground beetle Bembidion decorum, a third county record, but the first in recent times. What a day!

But we were not done yet. Dragging ourselves from the shingle and the meadows, we headed off to a pond. Sadly, but predictably given the weather, it was almost completely dry. It did admit to a couple of noteworthy finds though, including this Iris Sawfly larva, Rhadinoceraea micans. 

photo: John Martin

In the herbage next to the irises was a Poplar Hawkmoth, doing its best dead-leaves impression.

A short distance from this, another hawkmoth was spotted – an Elephant Hawkmoth.

And finally... to round the day off, a bug which was only recorded in Shropshire for the first time a couple of Wednesdays ago at Wildegoose Nursery made a second appearance:  Liorhyssus hyalinus.

 An exceptional day. Many thanks to our hosts for allowing us to indulge ourselves so richly.
 
  
 
Photographs © the author except as noted.