Wednesday 4th August 2021 - Titterstone Clee Hill
In amongst all the disappointing weather that we have been subjected to recently, our arrival at the car park on Titterstone Clee Hill was greeted by pleasantly warm conditions with the sun shining from a cloudless blue sky and next to no breeze. I am not sure what we did to deserve it but we made the most of it.It was an early start for us as we met at 10am rather than our usual 10.30am. This was a joint outing with the Wyre Forest Study Group and 10am is their normal start time. Thus, there was even more time than normal to enjoy the excellent weather.
We have done well this year selecting car parks with excellent views and this was no exception with an uniterrupted view stretching deep into Herefordshire in the south and the distant corner of Shropshire in the west.
Titterstone Clee Hill has been subjected to significant quarrying in the past. It is this activity that has shaped the hill, providing a man-made landscape that nature has made a decent effort of reclaiming. There are plenty of abandoned buidings and other structures dotted about the site to remind you of its past.
Some of the old quarry buildings still remain in use, but now as a shelter from the sun for sheep.
Another reminder of the hill's quarrying history is the Titterstone Incline.
Looking at an OS Map the incline is about 2km long, so there is far more to it than seen in the above photograph. This top section is now covered in vegetation and used as a footpath.
In all about thirty of us set off from the car park for the short walk to the large quarry in which most of us would spend our time during the morning. A few had a slightly different objective and they headed towards the summit.
However, a few did not make it much beyond the car park before undertaking their first foray.
Others made it a few yards further up the road to a pool.
Some ignored the pool and headed straight for the quarry.
What was their hurry?
They were going to investigate the pools that had formed in ruts in the quarry floor looking for the Scarce blue-tailed damselfly, which has been recorded at this site in the past.
Despite extensive searching and a few "It might have been ..." it was not found on this occasion.
Meanwhile lingering by the pool we found a traffic cone that had magically found its way into the water.
Seeing this reminded me that the last time we had visited the site a car had been dumped in the water. I went to have a look if it was still there. Another "disappointment", it was nowhere to be seen.
So far I have told you about what we had hoped to see but did not; now it is time to turn your attention to what we did see.
An Emperor dragonfly was patrolling the shallower end of the pool.
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
Every now and then a Common hawker ventured into the Emperor's domain ...
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
Then was chased off by the Emperor.
Eventually we nearly all made it to the quarry and spent the next hour or so looking, beating, sweeping and vacuum sampling the quarry floor and some of the surrounding scree. Here are some of the invertebrates that were found and photographed.
A moth, Common carpet:
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
Mottled grasshopper:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
A hoverfly, Helophilus pendulus:
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
A grass moth, Agriphila tristella:
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
A cranefly, Tipula lateralis:
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| Jim Almond |
A spider, Araneus diadematus:
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| Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett |
And a staphylinid beetle, Platydracus stercorarius:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
By now it was time for lunch. A collection of rocks at the edge of the quarry was a natural spot for us to gather and take our refreshments.
After the break most of us made our way back to the car park and then to the grassland beyond and below; some lingered in the quarry; others went further round the hill to an area of scree and others went up the hill in search of couple of rarer plants.
Rather than indulge myself and waffle aimlessly on I will hand over to the photographers to bring you a flavour of what was found later in the day.
A dragonfly, Black darter:
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
A clump of Ivy-leaved bellflower:
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| Photographer: Nigel Jones |
Another dragonfly, Common darter:
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
The stem of a thistle covered in Aphids, species unknown:
A tortoise beetle, Cassida flaveola:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
A pair of Blue-tailed damselflies:
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
A cuckoo bumble bee, Bombus rupestris:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
A Common pond skater:
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
Roesel's bush cricket:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
A pair of Large red damselflies:
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
A female Common hawker ovipositing:
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
A Mother Shipton moth larva:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
And a Cuckoo.
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
As a bonus, one of the group brought along a huge horsefly that he had found earlier at a different site, Tabanus sudeticus. This generated quite a flurry of photographic activity.
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| Photograph: Nigel Jones |
And the subject?
It is the dark speck on the top of the rock.
If you want a closer view, here it is.
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| Photograph: David Williams |
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| Photograph: Jim Almond |
By the end of our visit I found myself on one of the lowest levels, well below the car park.
Unfortunately there is a problem with finishing below where you want to end up, you have to ascend to the starting point. Looking at the options for getting back up I decided to take the shortest route.
Roesel's bush cricket:
Speckled bush cricket:
Tortoise shieldbug.
Large skipper:
A Peacock with unusual markings.
And a glimpse of a Purple emperor ...
Which, on closer inspection, had seen better days!
You will notice that Brown hairstreak is not featured in the above photographs. That is not because we failed to photograph one, but there were none to be seen despite long periods of craning our necks to scan the tops of trees for any movement that would betray their presence.
But being the shortest it was also the steepest!
Having negotiated it successfully, with no stops to admire the view, I was met at the top by our young entomologist who asked innocently, "Why are you out of breath?"
We went home.
Thank you to everyone who attended and the photographers for sending me so many excellent photographs.
One of the aims of the trip was to see Puffins. Despite the doubters amongst the birders he met who tried to persuade him they were long gone, here is proof that he was being misled.
Other bits and pieces
Our arachnologist had a few days off local entomology and visited Skomer.
He was kept company on the trip by this friendly Herring gull.
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| Photograph: A Cane-Honeysett |
One of the aims of the trip was to see Puffins. Despite the doubters amongst the birders he met who tried to persuade him they were long gone, here is proof that he was being misled.
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| Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett |
A couple of other insects caught his eye and camera during his stay:
A Bloody-nosed beetle:
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| Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett |
And a Field grasshopper.
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| Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett |
Meanwhile, the quest to repeat the "see all 58 mainland butterflies in a year" success of 2019 continues apace. The questor's tally to date was 55 when a trio of us accompanied him in his attempt to find number 56, Brown hairstreak.
We went to Whitecross Green Wood which is between Oxford and Bicester just south of the M40. This wood is frequented by a large number of butterfly species including, needless to say, the target species.
The wood is a mixed woodland with several wide grassland rides.
When we had visited the wood before, narrow paths had been mown through the grassland rides along which visitors were encourcouraged to walk to prevent trampling of the flower-rich areas.
On this occasion we were surprised to find that most of the width of the rides had been mown leaving only a narrow strip of longer vegetation before the trees.
Despite initial reservations the rides were brimming with orthoptera, mainly Roesel's bush crickets and hemiptera, the vast majority of these being Tortoise shieldbugs. Here are a few examples:
Dark bush cricket:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
Roesel's bush cricket:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
Speckled bush cricket:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
Tortoise shieldbug.
But we were there to look for butterflies. Here are some of the species we saw:
Brimstone:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
Large skipper:
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| Photograph: David Williams |
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| Photograph: David Williams |
Which, on closer inspection, had seen better days!
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| Photograph: David Williams |
You will notice that Brown hairstreak is not featured in the above photographs. That is not because we failed to photograph one, but there were none to be seen despite long periods of craning our necks to scan the tops of trees for any movement that would betray their presence.
Rather like the search for the Scarce blue-tailed damselfly at Titterstone there were several "It might have been ..." but none turned out to be.
Stop Press
Our questor has returned to the wood and has now observed a Brown hairstreak. He is up to 56. Only 2 to go!
Keep well.
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