Blue Sky Thinking

 Wednesday 3^rd December 2025, The Isle, Bicton

Our venue this week was a large, mainly arable farm which is encircled by a meander of the River Severn, close to Bicton. The farm's practice is to reduce reliance on bagged fertiliser, improve soil health naturally and benefit the natural environment.
I left home in south Telford shrouded in fog but this had already given way to sunshine by the time we had reached the M54 and fortunately we spent most of our time on site under blue skies. Having parked and made our way through a small wood, we arrived at a field which had a wide, uncut margin.

photo: Keith Fowler

We set about examining this area for finds…

 

photo: Keith Fowler

 ...which included 16-spot Ladybird,
 

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Meadow Ladybird
 

 and The Mirid bug Stenodema laevigata.
 

The first Callitula pyrrhogaster of the day was also found in this area. A tiny, parasitic wasp, the females are virtually wingless and (exceptionally for the Parasitica) easy to identify. For some unfathomable reason this female wasp has become known to us as “The Boy”!
 

photo: John Martin

Having reached the bottom of this field we made our way into the field next door and settled down to eat our lunch in the sunshine.

 

photo: Keith Fowler

This attracted the attention of a small flock of uncharacteristically bold sheep, who advanced and eyed us with interest.

 

Lunch over, we made our way around the edge of the field, vacuuming and beating as we went. Low vegetation produced several 22-spot Ladybirds…
 

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

…and the attractive hopper Allygus mixtus.
 

photo: John Martin

A Hawthorn Shieldbug was persuaded from the hedge.
 

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Larch and a Douglas Fir were growing together. These produced one or two Larch and Harlequin Ladybirds, plus copious quantities of Pine Ladybirds.

Larch Ladybird (photo: John Martin)

Pine Ladybirds

Tiny creatures, less than 0.5mm long were spotted on the Douglas Fir needles. These are overwintering female Douglas Fir Adelgids, Hemipteran bugs related to aphids.
 

photo: John Martin

We reached the end of the field and passed through a gate into a field abutting the River Severn.

photo: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Vegetation in the area was investigated, the group settling to examine their finds in the sunshine.

These included several Water Measurers,

the rove beetles Paederus riparius

and Stenus bimaculatus,

and the moss Syntrichia latifolia, growing on the trunk of a willow.

photo: John Martin

From here it was a short walk back to the cars, pausing to admire a passing Long-tailed Tit

photo: John Martin

and thence home. However some of the group decided to walk the short distance to Isle Pool, a large fishing pool, where an overwintering Great Crested Newt was found under a log and quickly covered over again.

photo: Neil Nash

 A very pleasant day in the winter sunshine.
   
 
Photographs © the author except as noted.