A repeat performance (almost)

Wednesday 13th April 2022, Clunton Coppice

For our outing to this Shropshire Wildlife Reserve, rather like our visit to Llanymynech Heritage Centre the previous week, the weather first of all drenched us for an hour or so, then dried us out by the time we went home. However once the first tranche of rain stopped the sun did not shine a great deal and there were a few more light flurries of rain.

That said we did our best to investigate the site.

During the rain we are very dependent on observation and vacuum sampling. Beating wet trees results in a tray full of water which is not healthy for any creature that falls into the tray, (and a further drenching for the beater!). Use of a net just leaves you with a wet net and more waterlogged animals.

Vacuum sampling the leaf litter and sparse ground vegetation tends to collect many small beetles including this staphylinid, Tachyporus obtusus:

Photograph: Jim Almond

And the weevil, Trypodendron domesticum.

Photograph: Emm Cane-Honeysett

Using our eyes and grubbing around in dead trees and other objects reveal larger beetles, for example, the beautifully hued ground beetle Carabus violaceus:

Photograph: Jim Almond

The carrion beetle, Phosphuga atrata;

Photograph: Jim Almond

And the Woodland dor beetle, Anoplotrupes stercorosus.

Photograph: Jim Almond

Of course not everything we find has legs.

A slime mould which has not yet been identified;

Photograph: Bob Kemp

A hoof fungus, Fomes fomentarius, named I assume after its passing resemblance to a horse’s hoof;

Photograph: John Bingham

And a patch of Bitter oysterling, Panellus stipticus, fruiting on a moss covered log on the woodland floor.

Photograph: John Bingham

One curiosity was this inflated mite found on a leaf. We have no idea what species it is but its body is impressive.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

By the time the rain had completely stopped we had advanced around 150 metres into the wood and it was time to find a spot for lunch!

Fortunately we spotted a large birch tree trunk that had fallen to the ground and this became a seat for most of us whilst we munched our sandwiches.

During lunch a pair, if not three, Pied flycatchers were spotted. It seemed that everyone on the lunch log could see them except one person (ME). After a while I began to feel that I was the subject of a late April Fool’s joke concocted by the group. 

One of our bird enthusiasts abandoned his lunch spot to try and get a photograph.

He was successful. Here are a male and female posing on a branch.

Photograph: John Martin

Here is what I saw of the birds!

The sun came out and our aerial photographer took to the skies to take this view which is from the wood looking towards the village of Clunton and beyond.

Photographer: Bob Kemp

And a second which I believe is looking down the valley in the approximate direction of Craven Arms.

Photographer: Bob Kemp

The sun dissappeared.

We advanced further into the woods spotting a muscid fly had ventured out, Eudasyphora cyanella;

Photographer: Jim Almond

And a Cream-spot ladybird, which has 14 spots on its elytra but its brown colour prevents any confusion with the named “14-spot ladybird”.

Photographer: Jim Almond

An area of the wood was chanced upon where there was some flowers. The sun came out for a while focussing attention on the flowers to see what insects visited them. A bee-fly, Bombylius major, was observed but not photographed. However a hoverfly, Platycheirus albimanus, posed for long enough.

Photographer: Jim Almond

A large beetle was found, Cychrus caraboides. This is known as the Snail hunter. Apparently it stridulates when handled but, if it did, no-one could hear it.

Photographer: Jim Almond

On the edge of a very small clearing the lichen Graphis scripta was found on the trunks of hornbeams.

Photographer: Bob Kemp

Time was marching on and we were still moving away from the cars.

Not a good strategy!

What is the black fungus on this twig?

It is, so I am informed, Witches’ butter.

Another fly paused and posed for long enough to be snapped, a tachinid, Gonia picea.

Photograph: Jim Almond

And with that final fly we made our way back to the cars and home.

To finish, our Wednesday Weevil of the Week.

Not one …

But two.

Our judge could not decide so we have joint winners of this prestigious title.

The first is Exomias pellucidus;

Photographer: Emm Cane-Honeysett

And the second is Trachodes hispidus with its strange paddle shaped scales.

Photographer: Emm Cane-Honeysett

My thanks to Shropshire Wildlife Trust for giving us permission to do what we enjoy doing. And, as always, to the photographers for allowing me to use their images to illustrate the report.