Better late than never

Wednesday 3rd April 2024, Burnside Meadow

It was June 2020 when I received an invitation for the group to visit this site. Nearly four years later, with chunks of time disappearing due to the COVID pandemic restrictions, we finally made it for a day at this site.

Having parked a little way away from the site in a local car park, and meeting one of the volunteers who looks after the site, we walked to the site where we were met by a few other volunteers joining us for the day.

The site is a sizeable patch of grassland with an area of woodland. It is bordered on one side by housing and on the other by the Rea Brook. It is part of the Rea Brook Valley Nature Reserve.

The name of the site has made me ponder on the many names for flowing water! (My thesaurus provides nine alternatives to river.) Is there a difference between a brook and a burn or a beck? When does a brook become a river? When does a stream become significant enough to be named? The answers to these questions are beyond me!

I digress.

The volunteers have planted hedgerows and some trees which are still in the early stages of development. They are trying to control some of the more dominant species of plant. A pool is also planned, and suitable sites are being tested.

Moving onto the grassland our early finds were dominated by ladybirds.

A 2-spot ladybird. This one is a less common form of the ladybird, known as form quadrimaculata.

Photograph: David Williams

A 7-spot ladybird together with the typical form of a 2-spot ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

A Harlequin ladybird and a Pine ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

A pair of 24-spot ladybird sensing that spring was in the air.

Photograph: David Williams

And now for something that was not a ladybird …

Not even an insect.

A Common frog, passing the time of day hunkered down in the grass.

After this quick diversion it is back to insects.

A Dock bug, Coreus marginatus.

A solitary bee, Andrena scotia.

Photograph: John Martin

A lesser dung fly, Spelobia clunipes.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

This unfortunate fly has been infected by a fungus which has erupted through its abdomen. The photographer has, helpfully, added a red arrow to point this out.

Moving away from insects once more we managed to find a couple of snails that could be identified:

A Rounded snail, Discus rotundatus;

Photograph: David Williams

And a Hairy snail, Trochulus hispidus.

Photograph: David Williams

And now for another ladybird; one we have seen before, a 24-spot. 

So why include another photograph? 

Because it was spotless!

Photograph: David Williams

Lunchtime! 

As the grassland we were in was very wet and not really suitable for a picnic we sought higher (and drier) ground.

We headed for the edge of the reserve, by the housing, where we made use of some conveniently placed tree trunks that had been coppiced and laid out.

On the way, ever vigilant, we spotted a hoverfly, Eristalis arbustorum;

Photograph: John Martin

And a Cuckoo flower, possibly the only one in flower at the time within the site.

Lunch was consumed in relative comfort.

During this sojourn a large ground beetle was spotted wandering along the ground between our feet. It was put in a pot as we tried to identify the species.

Unfortunately, we were unable to decide which species it was but narrowed it down to either Abax parallelepipedus or a Pterostichus species. [Note: It has now been confirmed as Abax parallelepipedus]

It was photographed then released to continue its rambling. We await information about whether it can be identified.

Photograph: John Martin

Lunch over we hauled ourselves up from our perches and meandered over to the woodland. 

A large bend in the Rea Brook restricts the woodland to a narrow strip between the water and the housing. 

Although some adventurous members entered the body of the wood, as there was no path and the underfoot conditions were wet and slippery, those of us of lesser agility stayed at the edge.

An Alder leaf beetle and a Parent bug were observed.

Photograph: David Williams

And munching its way through some tasty wet dead wood was a Green cellar slug, Limacus maculatus. It is also known as an Irish yellow slug.

Photograph: Neil Nash

Retreating from the woodland and returning to the grassland we continued our searching as we made our way very slowly towards the exit. 

A suction sample of the vegetation revealed a tortoise beetle, Cassida flaveola;

Photograph: John Martin

And a lace bug, Tingis ampliata. The lace bug is associated with Creeping thistle.

Photograph: John Martin

Time to go.

As we left the site, tapping a conifer overhanging the entrance revealed another ladybird. This was the tiny (about 2mm in length) Scymnus interruptus.

Photograph: David Williams

What a nice way to finish the day.

My thanks to Shrewsbury Council and the volunteers for allowing us to do what we enjoy doing. My gratitude to the photographers for sending me their images to illuminate the report.

Better late than never

Danson's Farm, Whitchurch - Wednesday 5th September 2018

It is now nearly three weeks since we visited this Danson's Farm. The delay has not been caused by a lack of interest in the site but by my absence from the country on holiday and the decision to leave suitable electronic devices at home. Please accept my apologies for the delay.

Danson's Farm is an old disused farm. Part of it was acquired by The Woodland Trust who created a woodland that runs alongside the Llangollen canal close to Whitchurch. The rest has been managed by its present owner for the benefit of wildlife.

The site nestles between the A41 as it by-passes Whitchurch and the canal. It consists of grassland, woodland, plantation and pools and retains some remnants of the farm buildings.

We met on a small pull-off from the A41 and one of the problems facing this area was immediately apparent.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Sadly, fly-tipping, a curse of our society, is a major concern in this area.

On a brighter note, nearby, an Araneus diadematus was photographed in a tangle of leaves and web.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

The owner appeared and unlocked the gate welcoming us to the site. The first area we came to was where the farm buildings used to stand. Only one remained standing (shown in the first photograph) but several bases remained and some upright girders that hinted at past larger constructions.

If you look carefully at the above photograph you will see an object on the metal just above halfway up.

What is it?

An upwardly mobile snail.

This area was rough grassland. It may not have been pleasing on the eye but the variety of the vegetation meant that it was an area where insects flourished and we spent quite a good deal of time surveying it.

Some of the things we found were:

Small copper butterflies - pleasingly these were very common here and throughout the rest of the site.

Photograph: David Williams

Green shiledbug

Photograph: David Williams

A fly - Tachina fera

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

A bee - Lasioglossum calceatum

Photograph: David Williams

And a cranefly -Tipula paludosa

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

On our way from this area into the next field we passed a large patch of Soapwort

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

The next field was grassland surrounded by trees with a large patch of nettles. Careful navigation was required to avoid stings!

An early find in this area was a Blue shieldbug

Photograph: David Williams

And the hawthorns bordering the field harboured a hawthorn shieldbug nymph.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

This field opened out into a large grass field, the focus of which was a pool.

The pool had some reedmace, and where there is reedmace there is always a chance of finding the bug Chilacis typhae.

We were not disappointed as one head hosted a mating pair whilst a third looked on.

The edge of the pool was the perfect spot for lunch.

In fact it was too good a spot as it took a determined effort to get going again after refreshments. But we did tear ourselves away.

Eventually.

As we moved on a hazel tree bordering the large field was beaten dislodging a large mirid bug - Pantilius tunicatus.

Photograph: David Williams

We made our way into the next field. A gorse bush was spotted, searched and yielded a Gorse shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

The field descended gently towards the canal whose bank was covered in dense vegetation and alders. And on the alders were:

Blue alder leaf beetle.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

And Parent bug nymphs.

Photograph: David Williams

Trying to hide amongst the lush vegetation but not escaping our eagle eyes was a Burnished brass moth.

Photograph: David Williams

Also lurking in the undergrowth was a huge spider - Araneus quadratus. This is the same genus as the spider in the third photograph but they are easily distinguished by the pattern on their abdomens.

Photograph: David Williams

Time to head back to the cars but we were about as far away from them as we could get! So it took a while to get back. And, needless to say, we kept our eyes open for anything of interest.

The first object that caught our attention was head of a mammal which we think was a mink.

Photograph: David Williams

Whilst some were fascinated by this others turned their attention elsewhere and found a Robin's pin cushion.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

This delightful growth on a rose is a gall which houses larvae of a wasp Diplolepis rosae.

Also making an appearance was the large hoverfly Sericomyia silentis.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

And finally the spider Gibbaranea gibbosa.

Photograph: David Williams

We finally made it to the cars, took our life into our own hands as we turned right onto the A41 and returned home after an excellent day in a pleasing site worthy of another visit at a different time of the year.

My thanks to the owner for allowing us to do what we enjoy doing and to Shropshire Wildlife Trust for making the initial arrangements. As always my thanks to the photographers Nigel Cane-Honeysett, Jim Cresswell and David Williams for allowing me to punctuate this report with their excellent photographs.