Wrekin Forest Volunteers: 44

16 Jul 2021

44

Jinlye Meadows, Long Mynd - Wednesday 7th July 2021

Getting to the park and meet point required travelling from All Stretton up a fairly steep, narrow and winding lane.

This is not a problem unless you meet someone coming the other way.

And we did.

Rule 155 of the Highway Code includes this statement: "Give way to road users coming uphill whenever you can. If necessary, reverse until you reach a passing place to let the other vehicle pass".

On this occasion, as I waited for the car coming down the hill to reverse, it also waited.

And waited.

Eventually I shrugged and started to reverse. I could not see anywhere to pull in, but I gave it a go.

Then met another car coming up the hill.

It stopped behind me.

And did not reverse.

Impasse.

The car coming down the hill was then joined by another.

Mmm.

After a few more moments of staring at each other the two cars coming down the hill gave way, reversing about twenty yards to allow me and the car following to pull off the road and let the others proceed.

We made it to the car park without further incident.

"One of the best car parks in the country" was a remark I heard, so I looked around and had to agree. The view was excellent and more than made up for the hassle reaching it. (Unfortunately, the following photograph does not do it justice.)

This visit was arranged through the National Trust to support te "Bees on the Mynd" project, which aims to map the distribution of the Bilberry bumblebee, Bombus monticola. In addition the project is interested in records of three "ginger" carder bees - the Common carder bee, Bombus pascuorum; Brown-banded carder bee, Bombus humilis and Moss carder bee, Bombus muscuorum.

We were met by the person running the project who gave us a brief talk about the four bees, how to distinguish them from each other and similar species and what to do if we found the locally rare Brown-banded and Moss carder bees.

Introductory talk over, we made our way to the first of the three Jinlye Meadows named in a similar way, but not the same as the Ridings of Yorkshire. In the case of the meadows it was North, South and West (rather than the county's North, East and West).

Almost as soon as we entered the North meadow the rains came down,

Fortunately there was an ash in full leaf close to the entrance so many of us moved under it for shelter. The ash also provided the first record of the day - a Forest bug late instar nymph.

The rain stopped after a few minutes, the clouds parted and the sun came out. Activity resumed.

The north meadow

Although I intended to progress through the meadows sequentially not everyone had the same idea and we dispersed to all three corners, as it were. Small groups of people were dotted around the site as they pursued their main interests as well as keeping an eye out for bees.

I saw very few bees in the north meadow but to compensate there were a few species of bugs that attracted my attention.

As I neared the border of the north and west meadows a small group had accumulated. One of the items that was being studied was a honey-comb like structure:

Photograph: David Williams

A little research by the photographer revealed that this is the cocoon of a weevil, more specifically one from the genus Hypera.

Another pre-adult was found, this time the larva of the Common quaker moth.

Photograph: David Williams

Next to the west meadow.

The hills in the background enclose the upper reaches of the Batch Valley.

What a lovely area in which to spend the day.

When you get to the edge of the meadow this is the view of the valley that greets you:

After all this visual excitement it was time to sit down, relax and have a bite of lunch.

Magically we all regathered as the word got around.

Photograph: Stephen Mitchell

Whilst most of us relaxed over our food one gentleman was pursuing a butterfly. When the excitement of the chase had died down, he announced "Number 44!". He had found a Small skipper, the 44th species of butterfly he has seen this year. Have a guess who it was - you may have read all about his exploits during the reports I penned during the first covid lockdown.

Activity resumed.

By the fence a large click beetle, Prosternon tessellatum, had taken up residence on an oxeye daisy.

Photograph: David Williams

Then our butterfly searcher, fresh from the elation of finding number 44, recorded another success.

Not number 45, but the main target species of the day, a Bilberry bumble bee.

Photograph: David Williams

Not content with this he went on to find two more during the afternoon, whilst the rest of us, as far as I know, found NONE.

Around the same time as the first Bilberry bumble bee was found an attractively marked longhorn beetle, Anaglyptus mysticus, was discovered.

Photograph: David Williams

If you prefer its common or English name then it has been assigned the grand title of "Rufous-shouldered longhorn beetle". However it is much easier to remember as the "anaglypta" beetle.

All of a sudden the peace and tranquility was shattered by a large droning sound.

Were we about to be assailed by thousands of hoverflies and bees?

No.

It was a formation of helipcopters flying down the valley.

Photograph: David Williams

The photograph shows seven, but there were ten in total.

A bit of research after the trip (not be me) revealed that this was part of a flypast to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the commissioning of the Puma helicopter into the service of the RAF.

Here are a couple of links to websites describing the occasion:

https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/stations/raf-benson/news/formation-flight-marks-50-years-of-raf-puma-service/

https://www.military-airshows.co.uk/press21/maps/puma50ann-070721.htm?fbclid=IwAR12i8VHnCSLTqceDed-x-DvXc5GVRaIEaQeYAid-XD-yx_SYZzSVoCvQUc

The helicopters we saw were on their journey between Shawbury and Shobdon

The noise and the excitement died down and it was time to contemplate the natural sounds, the view and the clouds in the sky.

Photograph: Stephen Mitchell

We dispersed around the south meadow finding a Ringlet that paused for long enough to have its photograph taken.

Photograph: David Williams

And we continued to look for the Bilberry bumble bee, but, this time ,without success.

Photograph: David Williams

It was time to go and we wearily made our way out of the meadows and returned to our cars.

Fortunately we did not meet any cars coming the other way as we descended back to All Stretton.

My thanks to the National Trust for giving us permission to survey. If you would like any information about the Bees on the Mynd project please let me know and I will put you in touch with the organiser.

My thanks as always to the photographers. The site has to be one of the most picturesque we have visited, surrounded by the Long Mynd to the west and south, the (other) Stretton Hills to the east and the Wrekin in the far distance to the north. This report reflects that.

And talking of the Wrekin. Here it is, brooding under the dark clouds in the distance.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Other outings

To finish I have a couple of other outings to report on briefly.

The first was by the moth group who visited Ifton Meadows LNR which is situated in the north west of the county in St. Martins.

After the small herd of Dexter cattle came to say hello whilst we were setting up, we settled down to a pleasant, quiet evening of contemplation and conversation with the occasional check of the traps and identification of a few moths.

It did not quite work out that way!

Large numbers of moths decided to visit the traps, resulting in a frenetic and exhausting evening as we attempted to identify and release as many as possible whilst we were on site.

Here are a few that put in an appearance.

Beautiful hook-tip