Doughnut Bokeh revisited

Wednesday 25th October 2023, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre

Before I write anything about our visit to the Discovery Centre I would like to show you this photograph of a collection of ducks on Priorslee Lake in Telford.

Photograph: David Williams

This photograph was taken with a mirror lens and demonstrates the Doughnut Bokeh effect. 

Use your web browser tools to open the photograph in a new window and look at the darker background at the top of the photograph. What should be highlights caused by light on the darker ripples are captured in the photograph as a series of bright circles. This is an example of the Doughnut Bokeh effect. 

For the record the ducks are (from left to right) a female Scaup, male Pochard, female Velvet Scoter and a bit of a male Tufted Duck.

 

My thanks to David for supplying the photograph and the simple explanation.

Back to the Discovery Centre.

Conditions were misty as we travelled to the Centre but, thankfully, it was clear by the time we arrived. However, the ground was very damp underfoot and it took until the afternoon for the sun to put in an appearance.

The day before I was contacted by a member of the group who had noticed a social media message stating that the Centre had been flooded. Cue email to the Centre to check!

With some relief they responded that the flood waters had receded and that the grounds although wet were firm underfoot. 

The visit went ahead as planned.

We assembled in the car park and then wandered into the grounds. We had not ventured very far when we came across a picnic table and this became the focus of attention as we used it to look through samples from forays into the vegetation.

Early finds included this spider, Nigma walkenaeri;

Photograph: David Williams

And this pair of inconspicuous ladybirds, Rhyzobius litura (on the left) and Rhyzobius chrysomeloides on the right.

Photograph: David Williams

This photograph proved very hard to achieve as the two ladybirds seemed to take umbrage whenever they were placed together and scuttled further apart. Many attempts were unsuccessful and this elicited many sounds of exasperation, but success in the end.

As the site had been flooded, we were keen to look at any debris that had been deposited on the site. To this end we moved swiftly through the grassland to get closer to the river.

We did not quite make it, pausing at the side of the large pool. Around this area we found a 24-spot ladybird;

Photograph: David Williams

And a Bishop’s mitre.

Photograph: David Williams

However, we also found some deposits from the flood caught up in the vegetation.

This was sampled into a tray and its contents examined using a conveniently located stone as a table.

Carrying on we reached the grassland at the side of the River Onny.

Curious I meandered over to the river bank and took a look at the state of the river. It was flowing quickly but was well down from the top of the banks.

There was much more evidence of the flood here with lots of piles of debris littering the grassland. 

Finds in this area included a Spiked shieldbug;

Photograph: David Williams

A Water measurer;

Photograph: John Martin

And a ground beetle Clivina fossor.

Photograph: John Martin

It was THAT time and as there was another convenient picnic table we occupied it and the ground surrounding it to have our lunch.

Unfortunately I had to take my leave after lunch as I had an appointment elsewhere but the group carried on. I have no idea what they got up to but I have been sent some photographs…

Of insects that they found.

A beetle, Oulema obscura;

Photograph: John Martin

A leaf beetle, Galerucella lineola;

Photograph: John Bingham

A rather bedraggled looking Scarlet tiger moth larva;

Photograph: John Bingham

And a second Scarlet tiger larva. (I assume it’s another, otherwise the photographer did an excellent job cleaning it up.)

Photograph: David Williams

A tortoise beetle, Cassida vibex;

Photograph: John Bingham

And a Large yellow underwing moth larva.

Photograph: David Williams

What I do know of the afternoon activities is that the group made a visit to the café for tea and cake before packing up for the day. 

I am not jealous! …

Maybe just a little.

My thanks to Grow, Cook and Learn, the charity that manages the site, for permitting us to do what we enjoy doing and to the photographers for sending me their images to illuminate the report.

Doughnut Bokeh

 Wednesday 18th October 2023, Merrington Green

The weather relented just long enough for us to enjoy a day of entomology at Merrington Green, a reserve managed by Shropshire County Council. The site is a mixture of grassland, woodland and a few pools. 

We met in the site car park which was just big enough to accommodate our transport in addition to the other users of the site.

Whilst waiting for everyone to get ready a few started early and found amongst other things a few 7-spot ladybirds.

Photograph: David Williams

Without further ado, I can inform you that, once again, our fly man managed to find a fly that had not been recorded in the county before. The fly was from a family that he does not usually try to identify, but as it was quite picturesque, he was encouraged to have a go. 

And was rewarded.

Here it is, Apiloscatopse flavicollis.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

At last, everyone was ready, and we made our way along a path through the trees, stopping periodically to tap the branches to see what fell out, to an elongste and irregularly shaped grassland.

Here is a view of a small part of it.

No more photographs of the grassland will be necessary as the this is the habit that we were in throughout most of the day.

Activity oscillated between sampling the shorter vegetation at the edge of the cut grass and checking out the bordering trees, with the occasional search of the cut grass mounds to see if anything had taken up residence.

Checking out the oak trees gave us sight of a Hawthorn shieldbug;

Photograph: David Williams

And a colourful planthopper, Eurhadina pulchella.

Photograph: David Williams

Sampling the vegetation at the edge usually resulted in a crowd gathering to examine the contents as they were emptied into a tray.

It was in one of these samples that we found the tiny ladybird Scymnus haemorrhoidalis whose red rear may have influenced the person who originally bestowed it its taxonomic name.

Photograph: David Williams

Of course, the use of sweep nets, beating trays and suction samplers does not exclude the use of our other senses to spot things. An example being this fungus which I am told is an Amethyst deceiver.

Photograph: Neil Nash

But equipment is always welcome, especially when it uncovers things like this crab spider about to tuck into a larva for lunch.

Photograph: Neil Nash

Talking of lunch, it was now that time. As there were no benches or picnic benches in sight we just sprawled out on the grass; most of us with some protection from the damp conditions – but not all!

During lunch, talk, as it seems inevitably to do, turned to photography. Normally all the technical references to equipment pass straight over my head, as my idea of a camera is, turn it on, select the subject, take the photograph and hope that it looks OK.

But others like to make it far more complicated by talking about things like ISO, f-stops, types of lens, and all sorts of other paraphernalia.

It was then I heard the phrase “Doughnut Bokeh”. This piqued my interest and, like a fool, I asked.

“What’s that?”

Knowing my lack of empathy for detailed photographic details it was explained simply as the effect on out of focus highlights caused by a mirror lens. Apparently they are captured as circles. 

Well, I have learnt something on this outing. I now await an opportunity to put my newly acquired knowledge to use.

But…

What is a mirror lens?!!!

Lunch over we continued through the grassland to the far end of the site doing what we normally do.

Here are a couple of beetles that were found:

An oddly shaped chrysomelid beetle, Bruchus loti;

Photograph: John Martin

And a weevil which may be Leiosoma deflexum, but this needs to be confirmed.

Photograph: John Martin

Under an oak tree that stood isolated in the middle of the grassland we found a clump of Fly agaric fungi. Here is one of them.

And now a warning!

Do not attempt to tease out insects from a fruiting apple tree by beating it.

Eventually we reached the end of the grassland which gave way to a path through the trees that led to a lane. The path was bordered by a couple of pools which were more or less inaccessible to us, so we passed them by and joined the lane. This in turn led to a further pool with a platform affording us access.

Unfortunately, there was no open water just soggy vegetation.

We spent some time checking out the poolside vegetation before spotting that the worsening overhead conditions hinted that it was time to take cover.

So we decided to call it a day and return to the cars.

On the way we passed an Elm with leaves that were covered in small pimple-like galls.

These are caused by the mite Aceria campestricola.

We got back to the cars just in time as it started to rain. Storm Babet announced its arrival.

My thanks to Shropshire County Council for permitting us to do what we enjoy doing and to the photographers for sending me their images to illuminate the report.

Other news

Some photographs from foreign climes. These were taken whilst holidaying on the Amalfi coast.

A gecko.

Photograph: Ian Plumridge

A Southern green shieldbug.

Photograph: Ian Plumridge

A Swallotail butterfly.

Photograph: Ian Plumridge

And a Stick insect which may be a Spanish stick insect, Pijnackeria hispanica.

Photograph: Ian Plumridge

A brief respite from the rain

Wednesday 27th September 2023, Mason's Bank and Lower Shortdich Turbary SWT Reserves

This outing was a casualty of the threatened bad weather caused by Storm Agnes.

Wednesday 4th October 2023, Stanmore Country Park

First the good news …

The weather was fine and allowed the visit to go ahead. After the two cancellations on the previous Wednesdays due to rain, this was a huge relief.

A new species of fly for Shropshire was found, Polyporivora picta. This is a member of the Platypezidae family, which are known collectively as Flat-footed flies, whose larvae feed on fungi. It is quite an attractive fly.

Photograph: John Martin

The first adult Turtle shieldbug, Podops inuncta, for the county was found. Nymphs were found last year at two sites, but there had been no sightings of adults, until this outing.

Photograph: David Williams

And now the bad news …

I was away on holiday and missed all the fun. That’s life!

Stanmore Country Park is situated about a mile to the east of Bridgnorth. It is part of a former RAF camp and has been converted into woodland and open areas of grassland, with a good network of paths. 

An industrial estate shares the former camp site and the approach road to that estate splits the reserve into two. The car park is off the approach road.

From the car park most of the users tend to go into the nearest part of the reserve.

Joy of Wildlife bucked the trend and went over the road to the other side!

The site was mainly a flat area of secondary woodland with some large glades, which is where the group tended to congregate, especially around any benches that could be found.

Photograph: Neil Nash

Here are photographs of some of the animals that were found during the day starting with a red and black rhopalid bug, Corizus hyoscyami.

Photograph: Neil Nash

A Ruby tiger moth larva.

Photograph: John Martin

A Walnut orbweb spider, Nuctenea umbratica.

Photograph: Neil Nash

A Forest bug nymph, Pentatoma rufipes.

Photograph: David Williams

A hornet, Vespa crabro.

Photograph: Neil Nash

A Box bug, Gonocerus acuteangulatus.

Photograph: David Williams

A rather splendid shiny gall wasp, Ormyrus nitidulus, which was found on oak.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

A Tortoise bug, Eurygaster testudinaria.

Photograph: Neil Nash

And finally a tiny, flightless, parasitic wasp, Callitulla pyrrhogaster.

Photograph: David Williams

Since we first found this distinctive wasp, it has become a challenge to try and find one on every outing!

Normally we would not attempt to identify parasitic wasps but we have been assured that its size, colouring and lack of fully formed wings allow it to be identified in the field.

My thanks to Shropshire County Council for permitting us to do what we enjoy doing. My immense gratitude to Neil and Jim for providing the information about the trip which I have paraphrased in this report and to the photographers for providing their images..

Wednesday 11th October 2023, Lyth Hill

This was another victim of the weather as forecast persistent and heavy rain caused the outing to be cancelled.

Other News

You may have noticed a lot of Red admiral butterflies recently when you have been out and about. 

Well our photographer spotted over twenty in a feeding frenzy on some windfall damsons in his garden.

Here are a few.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

The Shropshire Spider Group managed, after a lot of negotiation and last-minute hitches, to gain access to Condover Quarry, a large sand and gravel quarry.

The group was met by the company’s ecologist who gave an introduction to the site then guided us to parts of the site where quarrying had ceased, and the vegetation re-established.

After a long walk a “base” was set up on a sandy bank below and opposite extensive areas of grassland with woodland and a pool nearby. Here are some of the animals found on forays from this base.

A  24-spot ladybird.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Slender ground hopper.

Photograph: David Williams

Being a Spider Group meeting I had better include a spider. This is one of the many species of wolf spiders, Arctosa perita.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Blue shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

A weevil, Sitona waterhousei.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A sawfly larva, Platycampus luridiventris.

Photograph: David Williams

Another weevil, Trachyphloeus alternans.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A large staphylinid beetle known as a Devil’s coach-horse.

Photograph: David Williams

And a third weevil, Otiorhynchus ligneus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A large distinctive ground beetle, Chlaenius vestitus.

Photograph: David Williams

And to finish a puzzle. 

Wet sand is good for preserving footprints, but what animal left these? 

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Badger has been suggested but the jury is still out.