"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.