Wednesday 27th May 2026, White Grit
Meadows
White Grit Meadows consist of four
wildflower meadows bounded by tall, thick hedgerows, with some small stands of
Alder and Goat Willow trees. Part of the White Grit SSSI, these botanically
rich meadows lie close to the foot of Corndon Hill, just over the border in Montomeryshire. The meadows are home to
good populations of Heath Spotted Orchid, Dyers Greenweed and Devil’s-bit
Scabious.
There was a large turnout for this event, which
produced the first excitement of the day: badly synchronised car dancing, as
people jockeyed for position in the limited space available. Three late(er)comers
(no-one was actually late) were eventually banished to a more remote location
and made to trudge back to the main group. That will teach them!
Finally, with everyone assembled, the group
marched in something approaching unison to the site. The meadows form a
backwards ‘L’ shape in plan, our entry point being the meadow in the corner,
with one farther meadow to the left and two more ahead (in the vertical bit of
the ‘L’ if that makes any sort of sense at all).
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| photo: Keith Fowler |
Some headed into the grassland
itself to botanise and indeed everythingelseologise white others headed to the
margins to examine those instead. Early finds in the margins included a lovely
Apple Fruit Weevil
And an equally lovely Green Hairstreak
Meanwhile, in the meadow, agregations of the
micro-moth Micropteryx calthella were spotted in buttercup flowers. This
sparkling little moth goes by the common name of Plain Gold, which hardly seems
to do it justice.
There was more eye-catching iridescence from a
much larger insect, a 15mm or so click beetle which we believe to be Ctenictera
pectinicornis. This one is a female; males have fancier antennae. More injustice here, the photo failing to adequately show either the size or the shininess of this impressive insect.
The display of Heath Spotted Orchids did not
disappoint, they being abundant in the meadow.
 |
| photo: John Martin |
Two more grassland moth species seen were Syndemis
musculana
And a pristine Mother Shipton
While a stand of gorse in the middle of the
field yielded several Gorse Shieldbugs.
Many more finds were made of course but
eventually we moved into the second field (working our way up the vertical bit
of the back-to-front ‘L’). Not long after our entry into this second field,
lunch was declared, a shady spot under the fringing trees being selected.
Various butterflies zoomed and fluttered past while we ate, including Painted
Ladies, which seem to be about to have one of those ‘Painted Lady Years’ where
they appear in big numbers. This immaculate Small Copper proved easier to
photograph.
A sure sign that Summer is approaching was the
presence of grasshoppers bouncing about around our feet. These all turned out
to be Common Greens and at this point in the year they are still nymphs,
ranging from tiny 1st instars to larger 4th (final)
instars. Here are two 3rd instars, first an uncontroversially green
one
And now a more confusingly not-at-all green
one. Still a Common Green Grasshopper though!
The top field in the ‘L’ beckoned, its lower hedge affording a good view of the nearby Corndon Hill.
A number of very large flying things were
circling it. A precise identification to species level eluded us but my
suspicion is that they are related to kites…
Back in the meadow, it was good to see a couple
of Six-spot Burnet larvae
A Common Heath moth was another nice sight. And now, redemption for last week’s worst ever
blog post photo. A scrubbier area in the centre of the meadow contained
thistles and Hogweed, both hunting grounds for the Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn
Beetle, Agapanthia villosoviridescens. And indeed one appeared on cue,
but this week it was altogether more in focus. To retain a degree of
contrariness, it chose to pose for photos on a nearby fern instead.
A last photo for this field is of a Red-headed
Cardinal Beetle which appeared as we were retreating from it (the field, not the beetle).
And so back through the meadows, past our
starting point and into the final one at the toe-end of the ‘L’. Red-and-black
Froghoppers had been present all day. One finally posed for its portrait.
Another red and black insect had less choice in
the matter. It was glued to the spot (and dead). A 7-spot Ladybird which had
fallen victim to the parasitic wasp Dinocampus coccinellae, who’s larva
lives within the hapless beetle, burrowing out when fully grown and pupating
beneath it, the cocoon being attached to the still-living ladybird so that it
is forced to stand over it as protection. Remarkably some ladybirds do survive
all of this, but they are very much the minority and this one was certainly dead.
There was a definite sense of the day beginning
to wind down by this time, as the warmth sapped the strength and will of the
participants. There was just time for a Dock Bug to appear in the trays…
Before a second and final burst of sitting in
the shade broke out.
 |
| photo: Keith Fowler |
And so we returned to our vehicles. But a
couple of intrepid souls were not yet done. An adjacent piece of access land,
just sneaking back over the border into Shropshire, was rumoured to house a population
of Petty Whin, rare in, if not actually absent from, Shropshire. And here it
is! |
| photo: John Martin |
Finally, a postscript. The subsequent microscope
work done on the day’s catch of flies produced the following finds of particular
note. As usual, I’ll let Nigel take up the tale…
The Empid fly Rhamphomyia
albitarsis
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| photo: Nigel Jones |
and the Sepsid fly (found by
Jim) Sepsis duplicata.
 |
| photo: Nigel Jones |
The Empid is Nationally
Scarce and the Sepsid is very infrequently found by JoW, being a very local
species. It is easily identified by the abundant long hairs on its mid and hind
femora.
I also found three Empis
bicuspidata which may be new to Montgomeryshire and has not been recorded
in Shropshire.
A thoroughly enjoyable day. Many thanks to the owners for allowing access
to this botanically rich and widely interesting site.
Photographs © the author except as noted.
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