Bagpipes

Wednesday 19th April, Apley Woods Local Nature Reserve

The Local Nature Reserve is situated in the estate of the demolished Apley Castle. A large extent of the site is wooded and includes several veteran and exotic trees. The rest of the site is grassland with one large and a couple of small pools with some small cultivated areas.

To start our day we wandered through an area of mixed mature trees. Unfortunately there was very little ground flora and the lower branches of most of the trees were out of reach. So our early searching was hard and did not reveal very much.

After a while we passed into an area that had been opened out. The ground cover was lusher here and we had more success. 

A fly found in woodland is Fannia mollissima, which is distinctively hairy with long curved hairs bent around the tip of its abdomen. I am not sure when it was found but this seems a good time to include it.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

There was plenty of fallen and broken branches on the ground and a slime mould was spotted on one of these.

Photograph: David Williams

All of a sudden we were regaled with the skirl of bagpipes …

Not quite the sound one expects in a nature reserve in Shropshire!

Although the weather was dry it was not very warm. As a result insects were rather less keen to take to the wing than normal. Here is one such example, a bee-fly, Bombylius major, which stayed put long enough to be photographed.

Photograph: David Williams

Believe it or not lunch was fast approaching. We emerged from the undergrowth and headed towards the “duck pond” where we were greeted by this multi-seater throne set up for our picnic.

Lunch was devoured as the bagpiper played on.

In addition to the piper we were kept company by a bee, Andrena haemorrhoa, which seemed content just to hang around resting on the throne.

Photograph: David Williams

Refreshed, we meandered our way towards the main grassland and main pool.

An early find after lunch was an Orange ladybird. Here is an interesting view of the insect.

Photograph: David Williams

We were side-tracked by a small patch of developing plants.

The  tree in the foreground of the above photograph had a very distinctive bark.

Reference to the internet informed us that this was a Snakebark-maple. Apparently there are lots of species but the only one listed in the Shropshire Flora is a Grey-budded snakebark-maple. I have no idea if this was one.

As we arrived at the grassland we were still being serenaded. 

What stamina!

We crossed the grassland to the large pool, passing a Fritillary on the way…

Photograph: David Williams

To be greeted by a small clump of Marsh marigold.

Keeping up our recent great run of Shropshire Firsts, suction sampling of the vegetation at the edge of the pool captured another, a fly, Trimerina madizans.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

The weather was now a little brighter and warmer and we started to find things of interest more easily.

Whilst most of the group were content to investigate the area adjoining the pool others went off to explore its perimeter.

Finds in this area included:

A small ladybird beaten out of Ivy, Nephus quadrimaculatus;

Photograph: David Williams

A Dock bug;

And an Alder leaf beetle.

Photograph: David Williams

The rovers returned…

The piper finally ran out of breath…

And it was time to head back to the cars.

On the way some tall rough vegetation was beaten yielding a couple of Tortoise beetles. Not just two Tortoise beetles, but two different species; Cassida rubiginosa (on the left in the following photograph) and Cassida vibex (on the right).

Other news

More from our correspondent in Madeley.

Something is making holes in his flower bed;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And this bee was trying to break into his house.

Photograph:  Nigel Cane-Honeysett

We believe that the bee, Andrena scotia, and its colleagues were the culprits.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

The first meeting in 2023 of the Shropshire Spider Group took place in the reserve created in the Telford Millenium Village at Ketley. 

As you will see from the photographs spiders were not all that was found on the day.

Moth larvae:

Blackneck;

Photograph: David Williams

And Common footman.

Photograph: John Martin

Shieldbugs:

Green shieldbug;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Gorse shieldbug;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Forest bug nymph;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a Woundwort shieldbug, found on White dead-nettle.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Emerging Horsetails:

Photograph: John Martin

Ladybirds:

Adonis’ ladybird;

Photograph: Maria Justamond

Rhyzobius chysomeloides;

Photograph: David Williams

Scymnus suturalis;

Photograph: Maria Justamond

Heather ladybird;

Photograph: David Williams

And another Heather ladybird but with the characteristic three spots missing from one of its wings.

Photograph: David Williams

Getting nearer to spiders, here are some Arachnids:

A pseudoscorpion, Neobisium carcinoides;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a harvestman, Nemastoma bimaculatum.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And FINALLY … a spider, with a rather descriptive taxonomic name which I thought had been made up by the photographer! But no, that is its name:

Peponocranium ludicrum.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

The upwards projection at the front is its head.

Thank you to Telford and Wrekin Council and Friends of Apley Woods for giving us permission to enjoy ourselves and to the photographers for their images to illuminate this tale.

 

"He was unfailingly interested in all the wildlife around him."

 Brian Herring

Photograph: Lindsay Ward

I start this report with the sad news that our friend and colleague Brian Herring has died.

Brian had been a supporter of the group since its early days and regularly attended outings. More recently, unfortunately, as health and age took its toll he has not been get out and about with us.

The title of this report provided by the photographer sums up my experiences with Brian.

He will be missed.

Wednesday 12th April 2023, Venus Pool

A stiff breeze and rain greeted us as we assembled in the site car park.

There was, understandably, a reluctance to get underway!

However, after a bit of “Shall we”, “Shan’t we”,…

We did.

The only restriction placed on us by the Society was to keep out of sight of the lake to avoid disturbing the birds. With this in mind we headed across the meadow, accessed from the car park, to an area of marsh wet grassland.

Here we spent the next 45 minutes or so sheltering from the rain in the hedgerow with the occasional foray with suction samplers into the vegetation to search out things of interest.

Early finds were inconspicuous ladybird Scymnus haemorrhoidales;

Photograph: David Williams

And a snail killing fly, Elgiva cucularia.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

Then a strange thing happened.

A strange, bright yellow, disc appeared in the sky.

We quickly convened a meeting to discuss what this natural phenomenon could be.

There was just time to take a photograph of the next meadow...

Before the bright yellow disc disappeared…

To be replaced by more spray from the great watering can in the sky!

A hasty retreat was beaten to one of the bird hides. Here we enjoyed lunch in the dry, watching the wildfowl pottering about on the pool, together with wonderful aerial displays from swallows and martins, as they swooped over the surface of the pool searching for food.

Needless to say the sun came out while we dined.

Here are photographs from our time in the hide.

The view.

A Sand martin in flight.

Photograph: David Williams

A Swallow and a Sand martin flying over a pair of Great crested grebes.

Photograph: David Williams

A Shoveler;

And a Canada goose.

Lunch was over and the sun was still shining. We headed towards the arable field. However the strong wind deterred us causing us to seek refuge in the short enclosed pass between the car park and the entrance to the arable field.

And it was under some Lime trees in this area that we found the fly Lonchoptera scutellata.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

This was the first time that this fly had been recorded in Shropshire. Indeed it is very rare in the western Britain. 

All the while we were amassed in this enclosed area a very tame Robin kept its eye on us, no doubt waiting to snatch tasty morsels out of our trays.

Photograph: David Williams

It started to rain again and after a brief but determined effort to take a look at the arable field we gave up and went home.

New to Britain

Last year John Bingham, who occasionally joins us for outings in the south of the county, found a fungus that had never been recorded in Britain before, Hygrophorus marzuolus.

Photograph: John Bingham

John has provided the following information about the find:

“Found on 19th January 2022, oak woodland at Longdon Wood in the Shropshire portion of the Wyre Forest. Troupe of seven fungi. They were all dark coloured, some almost black, quite robust and firm with white gills with caps 4-10cm across. There was no obvious odour, faintly pleasant. Growing on a steep bank under Oak, Quercus petraea x robur = Q. x rosacea with bare soil, leaf litter with occasional patches of mosses, scattered Heather, Calluna vulgaris and Bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus. Unable to name species so.... A few specimens were collected and sent to Martyn Anisworth at the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, Mycological Department for DNA sequencing. The results to came back but on 25th January 2023, Martyn confirmed the fungus was indeed Hygrophorus marzuolus, a species not recorded before from Britain. Specimen held in Kew herbarium. A winter species of fungus often found after snow melt in early spring.”

Other news

A Dipper was spotted in Loamhole Dingle.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

During a moth night at Prees Heath the damp conditions encouraged Minotaur beetles out of their burrows.

A male with well-developed pronotal horns.

Photograph: David Williams

Minotaur beetles gather dung, such as rabbit dropping, which is taken into their burrows to provision the brood chambers.

Here is a female, which has only tiny pronotal horns,  dragging dung towards its burrow.

Photograph: David Williams

The dung gathering is a joint operation. Here is a male collecting dung.

Photograph: David Williams

The male usually collects dung on the surface and takes it to the burrow where the female will take it down to supply the brood chambers.

As it was a moth night, here is a moth, an Early grey taken at one of the traps.

Photograph: David Williams

Finally a search of the heather for larvae revealed an Oak eggar larva.

Photograph: David Williams

Thank you to Shropshire Ornithological Society for giving us permission to enjoy ourselves (despite the weather) and to the photographers for their images to illuminate these tales.