Wild Teams on the Long Mynd

Batch Valley, All Stretton - Wednesday 25th July 2018

The phone rang as I was just leaving Wellington.

My passenger answered it.

"We are stuck in a traffic jam and will be 30 minutes late." we were told.

Thanking them for the information the call ended.

It was only a few minutes later that I realised we were heading in the same direction and would end up getting stuck in the same traffic jam!

And we did!

Roadworks just outside Dorrington.

Actually they were path-works as the work force were clearing vegetation that had grown over the existing path in order to reclaim the full width of the path. It needed to be done; but to do it safely they had to close one of the lanes and use traffic lights which caused a log jam on this busy road.

We got to the car park in All Stretton about 10 minutes late.

Six of us met in the bottom car park before making our way up to the second car park where we were joined by members of the Shropshire Wild Team.

The Shropshire Wild Team consists of volunteers who are involved in landscape management projects as well as other outdoor activities. A little while ago members of the team attended a "Learn to Love Spiders" course and had come along for the day to reinforce this training.

Our spiderman was in his element as he was able to talk about spiders all day long to a really attentive and appreciative audience!!

There was a large patch of thistles by the second car park.

This patch attracted a lot of butterflies including Gatekeepers.

And this fly with an extremely long proboscis which can be seen probing the thistle in the following photograph. It is a tachinind fly - Prosena siberita.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

After spending a long time around the car park I found that most of the group had gone on ahead and were disappearing into the far distance.

The process of catching up began. Unfortunately it is difficult to just catch up. Things of interest that "must" be investigated get in the way. If anything along with a couple of other stragglers I was getting further behind.

In the end a determined effort was required to rein in the others. It helped that they had come to a split in the path and were wondering which one to take. I solved the problem by declaring lunch-time. This decision was greeted favourably and we settled in the shade of a tree by the stream.

A Golden-ringed dragonfly was photographed as it rested on the vegetation at the side of the stream.

Photograph: David Williams

One of the group wandered off further up the valley and having checked there was no-one in his vicinity took a few photographs from the air.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Lunch over we enjoyed watching a toddler being allowed to be a toddler by letting him jump into the (very shallow) stream. We then made our way past an avenue of trees to a large area of grassland.

As with most areas at the moment it was showing the effects of the lack of rain for an extended period.

Just to the left of the photograph a pool had been excavated. It was dry but the vegetation around it was lush and green!!

We spent quite a bit of time searching in this area before the heat of the day began to make itself irresistible.

Although it was still quite early we all decided that we were happy to return to the cars and go home.

So we did.

On the way we found a very hairy caterpillar; the larva of the White ermine moth.

Photograph: David Williams

My thanks to the National Trust for giving us permission to survey, to Shropshire Wild Teams for joining us and giving us the opportunity to introduce them to our activities and to Bob Kemp and David Williams for allowing me to use their photographs.

Sockless in Prees Heath

Prees Heath, Wednesday and Thursday 18-19th July 2018

I need to get the embarrassing part over with.

Yes, I had another sock incident. 

I forgot them on the Thursday. I got them out ready to take with me but unfortunately they remained at home whilst I was at Prees Heath. 

Thankfully I managed without them.

A curious week in the Joy of Wildlife programme. At the request of the warden we attended the "Chris Packham" bioblitz on the Thursday. As we thought it would be rather busy on the day we decided to make a "pre-visit" the day before to optimize the list of species that we found.

And as it was a curious "event" I will get the boring text out of the way first then treat you to some photographs.

Wednesday. 

Five of us made the journey to Prees Heath. Needless to say it was dry and very warm.

After some initial dithering we marched to the further end of the site as this was an area that we seldom visit and as it had no orthoptera records this group became the focus and were duly recorded along with numerous other insects and arachnids.

On the way we met a group from the Worcester Camera Club who were curious as to what we were doing. ("Curious" is clearly the word of the day!). They assumed that we were catching butterflies with our nets. 

After reassuring them that we were looking for smaller beasts we showed them the catch from the vacuum sampler. At this point one of the group made a rapid departure being afraid of spiders, but the others maintained their curiosity as the catch was sorted out.

From the further reaches we returned via the pool where we watched the dragonflies and damselflies over and around the water and did some pond dipping.

Our reverie was interrupted when a dog decided that it needed the pool and went into the water. It did not stay long but then it decided to wander around us dripping water in places we would have preferred it not to.

From the pool we meandered  back to the car park carefully avoiding the copious amounts of "dog waste" on the path which was easier than normal to spot as it had been sprayed pink.

Near the end we met Nigel, who is you'll all be surprised to learn "Only a puppy". 

A very yappy puppy; who insisted on following us rather than its owner. Eventually he got bored with us, thankfully.

Thursday. 

More curiosity. Two of us were at Prees Heath just after 8am!

Overnight a marquee had been erected so after some initial entomologising close to the entrance to the site we went over to investigate it. It had tables and chairs, the official recorder for the day, drinks and cake! 

We made the marquee our base and ventured from it for entomological sorties, returning to look at our specimens, report our findings and take in the occasional refreshment.

At 10.30am we met the remaining Joy of Wildlife attendees, but the nature of the day meant that we did very little as a group.

There is not much more to add and the early arrivals left at 1pm.

Did we meet Chris Packham?

No.

But it was his bioblitz.

He was also doing these events at several other sites and he was scheduled to get to Prees Heath at 5.30pm. 

We did not wait.

The BBC Midlands news carried a report of the day and, indeed, the great man did make it. If you watched the report you would have noticed my starring role as I entered from stage right, took a few steps, turned thoughtfully, then retreated from whence I came.

I am available to sign autographs.

Humbly I leave you with some images from the two days.

The long march

Silver-studded blue; Photograph: Ed Phillips

Meadow grasshopper; Photograph: David Williams

Cinnabar moth larva; Photograph: David Williams

Field grasshopper; Photograph: David Williams

Small copper ovipositing - an egg is circled in red;

 Photograph: David Williams

Common green grasshopper; Photograph: David Williams

Six-spot burnet; Photograph: Ed Phillips

Mottled grasshopper; Photograph: David Williams

The control tower

Pond dipping

The Marquee

My thanks to Stephen Lewis, the warden at Prees Heath for Butterfly Conservation, for inviting us to do what we enjoy doing and permitting us to visit on the previous day; to David Williams and Ed Phillips for allowing me to use their excellent photographs and especially to the cake makers.

Concorde fly-over

Millenheath, Wednesday 11th July 2018

I start with an apology. Last week I included a photograph of a teneral shieldbug nymph which I stated was a Green shieldbug. This was wrong. It was a Bronze shieldbug. Sorry. Thanks to the eagle-eyed reader who spotted my mistake.


It was sunny and hot when we made our second visit to Millenheath.

Five of us met in the field that we had been given permission to use as a car park, kitted up and set off for the first target area of the day. This was the field in which we had concluded our previous visit as we felt that it had the greatest potential for supporting things of interest to us.

Unfortunately it was quite a way from the car park. So getting there took time.

First there was a buddleia at the entrance to the bridle path. This was alive with butterflies. Our brief inspection recorded seven species.

Having dragged ourselves from the butterfly bush we then passed a stand of hogweed whose flowers attracted lots of hoverflies. I only managed to get the others to move by promising to return to the hogweed later!

Eventually we reached the field.

On our last visit we noticed that it contained a variety of habitats which bode well for us finding a good range of invertebrates. 

The field is bounded by woodland on one side and a stream on the other so there is a gradual change from dry habitats on one side to damp on the other. Even in its current parched state this change was visible.

Photograph: David Williams

We made our camp in the shade of the trees in the very dry sparse grassland.

On the other side of the field in the "damper" area thistles flourished.

And where there are thistles you will often find Sloe bugs. This one is a nymph.

Photograph: David Williams

In case you are wondering the Sloe bug was there of its own free will. It had not been placed there to provide an interesting background for the photograph!

Sweeping the dry grass yielded a large number of the rhopalid bug Myrmus miriformis.

Photograph: David Williams

Here we have a mating pair. The smaller slimmer male is at the bottom with the female at the top. The female in this pair is unusual as it has fully formed wings. Normally both sexes are short winged as in the following photograph of a more typical female.

Photograph: David Williams

We also found brown males - their usual colour is green. Perhaps they were as parched as the grass!

Photograph: David Williams

One of the group noticed something in the oak jutting out into the field.

A collection of shieldbug eggs and some first instar nymph hatchlings. Despite their colour these are Green shieldbugs. And, yes, I have had the identification confirmed!

Photograph: David Williams

Now for another youngster that required us to call in expert help to identify.

Photograph: David Williams

This is probably a Dusky thorn caterpillar. It was found on an alder leaf on a tree by the stream.

Two adults that we could identify were a Large emerald moth.

Photograph: David Williams

And a male Bombus hortorum.

Photograph: David Williams

Another species that taxed us in the field turned up in the collection from the vacuum sampler. At first we were not sure what the scruffy bundle was but then its features became clearer and we were, at least, able to say it was a moth.

Photograph: David Williams

On checking the moth identification book at home we decided it was the Nationally Scarce B moth Ochsenheimeria taurella. There is a similar moth so verification was sought and obtained from the County Recorder.

Time for lunch.

As we relaxed and took in our surroundings we noticed Concorde high in the sky!

OK, it was only a cloud - but we are allowed to let our imagination wander.

Lunch over we continued our perusal of the field before moving back to the bridle path.

On the way back we had to pass the patch of hogweed I mentioned earlier. What would it delight us with? The answer was - nothing. Whatever had been the attraction earlier had now lost its appeal and the hogweed was deserted. Sorry for dragging you away earlier.

The vegetation on the bridle path was far more intrusive than it had been in May. And it was covered in dust giving it a surreal look.

I assume that the dust was caused by passing farm traffic which uses the lane disturbing the very dry soil and blowing it onto the surrounding plants.

Unfortunately the dust made sweeping and beating a rather hazardous activity so we restricted ourselves to just using our eyes most of the time.

We walked along the path to the second field which, as time was running short, was only given a very short inspection. Like the first field and all the others around it was parched and most of the vegetation straw coloured.

Back to the cars and home after another excellent day.

My thanks to the owner of the land for permission to visit and do what we enjoy doing and to David Williams for his excellent photographs.

It'll be that one or the other

The Haycop, Broseley - Wednesday 4th July 2018

On Tuesday afternoon I was asked how many were expected for this trip.

"Five" was my response.

Two hours later it had risen to seven and then an hour later two more told me they were coming.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived on site to find a further two had decided to come along making us a large enough group to form a football team. Would we be good enough to compete in the World Cup?

The sky was a glorious shade of blue and the sun was beating down so it was clear that we needed to get as much done as quickly as possible before we were overcome by the heat of the afternoon.

The Haycop is an excellent mixture of habitats in a compact site with rough grassland, meadows, heath, woodland and a pool. A lot of work is done by volunteers maintaining it and I am pleased to say that they maintain it for the wildlife rather than to make it look nice. Long may this continue.

We started off in the rough grassland. 

Many mini-beasts make their home in such a habitat. Many make their living off the vegetation but they always need to keep an eye out for predators. One such predator is the spider Misuena vatia which lurks often on flower heads waiting patiently to ambush anything that passes. I have seen it take a bumble bee in the past. In this case it has taken a hoverfly.

Photograph: David Williams

The next object of our attention was the pool and its surrounding vegetation.

There was plenty of activity in and above the water with damselflies lazily meandering about the emergent vegetation. This behaviour contrasted with the frenetic activity of a Southern hawker which dashed hither and thither about the pool.

A pair of Azure damselflies were photographed as the male "escorted" the female as she laid her eggs.

Photograph: David Williams

Our fly-catcher asked for a fly to be photographed. 

Photograph: David Williams

Many flies need to subjected to microscopic examination to determine the species but this one can be done from a photograph. Unfortunately I do not know what it is! But our fly-catcher assured us that "it'll be that one or the other"!

It was time for a rest!!

We climbed a grassy bank where some of us had a sit down and took on water. 

At this point we welcomed an old, old friend - Auntie Betty's tablecloth.

"Aunty Betty's tablecloth" first made its appearance long before the Joy of Wildlife walks its predecessors were conceived. A group of us used to do surveys organised by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. A sheet was produced by its owner to use to catch things beaten from trees and it was immediately christened by another of that group. After several years tucked away in a cupboard it made its reappearance at The Haycop.

We found a teneral instar of a shieldbug, which I think is a Green shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

It has just moulted emerging in these bright colours. Over the following few hours it will gradually take on its normal colours.

We made our way further up the hill by a variety of paths to lunch in the meadow and heathland.

This area provided an excellent view of the church in Broseley.

There are a number of metal sheets laid out in the trees that surround this area and a slow worm was sheltering under one of them.

Photograph: Paul Watts

Several butterflies were dashing around this area including some skippers. Several were caught to see if one of them was an Essex skipper, a recent arrival in the county. And, yes, one was an Essex skipper. An identifying feature is the black tips to its antennae.

Photograph: David Williams

The heat was increasing, time to move on and find some shade!

We retreated to the woods and made our way slowly back to where we started.

Another wonderful day in an excellent site. We are very lucky that we have so many sites of interest within easy reach.

My thanks to the Friends of Haycop for allowing us to visit and do what we enjoy doing and to the photographers David Williams and Paul Watts for allowing me to use their photographs.

Road works and a puncture

All Stretton, Wednesday 27 June 2018

We were late arriving on site.

No, we had not been delayed setting off; we should have arrived in plenty of time. But just after passing Bayston Hill on the A49 we ground to a halt and then set off at a crawl as the traffic negotiated a "mobile" road works.

There was a person with a STOP/GO sign but he was not STOPPING or GOING the traffic, then there was a van parked at the side of the road. A few yards further on we came across someone doing some work - he was hand strimming the grass verge. Finally we came across another STOP/GO sign-man who was as effective as the first.

Why were they cutting the verge with a strimmer?

Anyway we made reasonable progress after getting past and should have arrived more or less on time until we ground to a halt again in Leebotwood.

This time there were traffic lights. And the cause of the delay - resurfacing.

We were definitely going to be late.

And despite there being no more delays we were.

Apologies were given to our host for the day, then we got ready to survey.

"Er! Keith …. you seem to have a puncture."

I had. The rear nearside tyre was as flat as the proverbial pancake.

It was no good worrying about it at this stage; it could wait until we had done what we wanted to do.

Despite the early setbacks it was a glorious day.

We started in a grassy field and had an early surprise when a Pearl-bordered fritillary put in an all too brief appearance.

Photograph: David Williams

The grass was swept and vacuumed, the trees were beaten and the hedgerow inspected to reveal a good range of species but none matched the exuberance of the fritillary, although a small skipper came close.

Photograph: David Williams

As we entered a small patch of woodland we found an aphid that had been parasitized.

Photograph: David Williams

The aphid is glued to what looks like a slice of orange and is unable to move.

Curious!

By the time we had worked our way through the woodland it was, you guessed it, lunchtime. As the sun was beating down we looked for some shade and found it in the middle of a sheep pasture where an ash, just in picture on the left of the following photograph, provided some relief from the sun.

The views from this field are excellent. The above photograph shows Caer Caradoc which is across the valley from the site. And for any of us feeling homesick the Wrekin was just over there, dominating the far horizon!

We were not alone in seeking out lunch. In my tray a crab spider was tucking into a mirid bug. A sizeable snack.

Photograph: David Williams

From the pasture we moved into a meadow. This area and its bordering vegetation and trees were searched for quite a while before the relentless heat took its toll and we ground to a halt. I should not complain, we were not getting wet through precipitation from the skies.

Rested and thirst quenched we moved on through more woodland bordering a stream to a further meadow. Again we searched and rested, searched and rested before deciding to call it a day.

Having returned to our start point a wasp's nest was located.

Photograph: David  Williams

The above composite photograph shows wasps, Dolichovespula saxonica, at the entrance to the nest

One problem remained - the flat tyre.

"Leave that with me" were the wonderful words uttered by one member of the group. So I did as asked.

I wandered off to look at a sparsely vegetated area returning after a while to find the emergency tyre in place. Thank you.

The day was rounded off with a cold drink and home made scones. Brilliant!

My thanks to Mags Cousins for allowing us to visit her patch and providing refreshments; to David Williams for allowing me to use his excellent photographs; and to Jim Cresswell for changing the wheel.