Tick VG?

 Wednesday 22nd April 2026, Oaks Wood, Habberley

Oaks Wood is, despite its name, a mixed woodland with much Norway Spruce and other tree species in addition to oaks. There are also meadows, ponds and clearfell areas within its 200 acres, so we were only ever going to scratch the surface of its possibilities during this, our first visit to the site.        
 
The entry point for the site was Brown’s Coppice, an area which, as you can see, contained much Silver Birch.

photo: Keith Fowler

An early find was, unsurprisingly, a Birch Shieldbug.

The UK’s largest ladybird, species, Eyed Ladybird, soon appeared.

At the other end of the scale, Ivy Ladybird, a sub-3mm micro ladybird species, was somewht surprisingly vacuumed from leaf litter.

Nettles produced the large, emerald green weevil Phyllobius pomaceous.

photo: John Martin

Snails do not feature much in these reports. But this does not mean that they are not recorded - we just tend not to photograph them very often. We will attempt to correct this deficiency! Here are a couple to begin with. Firstly Euconulus fulvus

photo: John Martin

And this one is probably a Balea species but identification is ongoing…

photo: John Martin

We progressed from Brown’s Coppice into an open area of grassland which afforded an excellent view of Earls/Pontesford Hill on the other side of the Habberley Brook valley.

photo: Keith Fowler

Many Orange-tips were patrolling the grassland and it wasn’t long before eggs were located on Cuckoo Flower.

Three Rhopald bugs were photographed: Rhopalus subrufus,

Corizus hyoscyami
 

photo: John Martin

And Stictopleurus punctatonervosus.

It was also a good day for hoverflies (sadly, an increasingly uncommon event). Ferdinandea cuprea had been sighted in Brown’s Coppice but evaded the cameras. However Xylota segnis,

photo: John Martin

Epistrophe elegans and

photo: John Martin

a pair of Helophilus pendulus all had their likenesses captured. 

photo: John Martin

Two very smart moth larvae attracted attention. This is The Drinker

And this is a Scarlet Tiger, an increasingly common species but always a nice find.

The next revelation could hardly be described as a nice find though, by any except the most dedicated arachnologist. A Sheep Tick.

Worse news followed a few days later when one of the participants reported finding one on their person. We rarely encounter ticks during our outings in Shropshire but it seems that they may be becoming more common. A timely reminder to take precautions during feld trips and inspect carefully afterwards.

To change the tone, here is the third snail of the day: Clausilia bidentata.

Several Slender Groundhoppers were discovered in a nettlebed.

Photographing them proved to be a rather painful process. In contrast, this beetle was presented in a pot, a much easier target! It is Leistus terminatus. 

Exiting the fields we now re-entered woodland. A single, female Green Longhorn moth, Adela reaumurella, appeared almost immediately.

Aside from the Eyed Ladybird, conifer-specialist ladybird species had thus far proved elusive. But, finally, several Larch Ladybirds showed themselves.

A short distance into this block of woodland is a pond.

photo: Keith Fowler

Staring into it eventually revealed the presence of several Palmate Newts which, however, proved impossible to photograph adequately. A Large Red Damselfly was more accommodating.

photo: John Martin

As was Sanicle, though being a plant, it was never going to be very good at evading the photographer's lens!. 

photo: John Martin

Another of the several ladybirds noticed is this 14-spot, which was unusually lightly marked.

Moving through the woodland brought us to the final part of this vast site that we reached on this visit: an area of regenerating Norway Spruce clearfell, giving another good view across to Earls Hill.

Norway Spruce isn’t a great species for native wildlife, but the ubiquitous 7-spot Ladybirds didn’t seem to mind.

A better species is Broom….

…which belatedly produced a number of Pine Ladybirds amongst other species.

At this point time was called on a warm, sunny and altogether very pleasant day (bloodsucking arachnids notwithstanding!). Thank you to the owners of Oaks Woods for allowing us to explore this interesting site.  
     
 
Photographs © the author except as noted.