Netted and Potted by Keith Fowler

“Shieldbug!” was the cry as we were tooling up shortly after arriving at Grindleforge. We duly trotted over to where the cry had originated and there was a Dock bug. A quick search of the area revealed a few more. Was this early find a curse or a sign of good things to come?

The day was overcast with a wind straight out of the Arctic – was snow forecast? It seemed a possibility. We wrapped up well and set off, for once ignoring the car parking area. The plan, yes, we did have a plan, was to follow the footpath alongside the Wesley Brook to Kemberton Mill and then through King Charles’ Wood to Evelith Mill before returning by the same route or an alternative path.

We crossed the brook using the elongate Oldforge Bridge then followed the course of the brook using the footpath through the very pleasant wood. On emerging from the wood we crossed into a sheep field and had lunch. We were still in sight of where we had parked the cars about 400yards away!

The verge of the bridge and the wood provided plenty of entertainment : craneflies and weevils  doing what most animals do in the spring; plants for identification and lots of other wee beasties most of which were in families that we could not identify, unfortunately – but we did manage to name a few. No shieldbugs – were we cursed?

It was in this wood that one of our group managed for the first time to “net” and “pot” a cranefly successfully, a feat that he was keen that the rest of world should be aware off.

We shivered through lunch, even our bare-legged colleague who had goose-bumps on his goose-bumps was forced to wrap up. But what was that in the sky – BLUE – yes, the threat of snow was receding and there was a chance that we might get some sunshine. However the wind still blew and we discussed the merits of Centigrade and Fahrenheit for judging how warm or cold it was.

After lunch we made our way slowly up the field to a small area of long grass and other tall plants. The sun came out and when we found areas that were sheltered from the wind there was plenty of wildlife to observe. And the curse was broken as we found two more species of shieldbug – Green and Forest/Red-legged. I was overwhelmed by hoverflies and craneflies which the other members of the group kept catching for me.

Time flies when you are enjoying yourself. We had “walked” about half a mile in nearly 5 hours. The first objective – Kemberton Mill  - was still half a mile away, so the plan was abandoned and we headed for home. As these events are advertised as Invertebrately Challenged Tetrad Walks I hope no one will sue me under the Trades Descriptions Act. Getting back to the cars was much quicker!


Did we miss the opportunity to scour the car park? Don’t be silly, we spent the next 45 minutes or so inspecting the small but active sandstone cliff face which was now bathed in warm sunshine. Many bees were using holes in the rock and lurking nearby was a Jewel wasp.

It was here that we found the fourth shieldbug of the day, a Hairy/Sloe bug.

It had been a good day.

Keith Fowler

Mink and Un-Open Access Land - Keith Fowler

Eight of us gathered for the next instalment of “Hunt the Shieldbug” in a small car park off a narrow lane at the start of the path to the Forestry Commission land at Lodge Hill. Three momentous events took place before we left the car park:

1.    An omission was pointed out in my piece about Beckbury;
2.    We attempted to charm the earthworms present;
3.    A slow worm put in an appearance.

As we were dealing with the first two events a slow worm was found in the verge at the side of the car park. Fortunately the paparazzi that hound our every movement were there to capture the moment!

This young lady (we think) was clearly used to the limelight and made no attempt to escape. After signing autographs and smiling for the camera, she slowly made her way back into the undergrowth.

Next, my omission from the report on Beckbury: American Mink.

A mink was spotted whilst on our walk. It was observed twice before noticing the waiting camera and, being camera-shy, disappearing. American mink are a very unwelcome addition to our fauna. It is a fearsome predator and is thought to be one of the factors behind the decline of the Water vole.

My fear of worms is now pretty well publicised. As therapy I attended a Bio.fell Earthworms course and I wish it to be known that I handled three live wriggling worms.

As part of the course we were shown how to charm worms to the surface by vibrating a fork in the ground. One of our group today was also present on the course and proved to be a champion charmer.

The challenge was on. I brought the fork and our champion got to work and proved that there are no worms in the car park.

Eventually we left the car park and made our way up the path to Lodge Hill which is a mixed deciduous/conifer woodland. The walk was pleasant but apart from a small quarry it was not very interesting although we did find a range of species including a Common Lizard. After a while we decided to call it a day and try the Open Access land across the road from the car park. So we returned.

What looks straightforward on a map, i.e. the Open Access land is next to the road, turned out to be anything but on the ground. There was a barbed wire fence between the “Open Access” land and the road making access impossible to all except those equipped with wire-cutters. After a fruitless search for an entry point we gave up and “Plan B” was invoked. Always good to have a Plan B. We moved on to The Lawley.

We lunched in the car park and like most car parks it proved a major source of invertebrate records, especially the verges which were attracting many bees, hoverflies and butterflies, including this Nationally Scarce Andrena labiata. (The bee was released unharmed after being identified and photographed.)

Refreshed and refuelled we made our way up the path on the Lawley. This started with a small wooded area and then opened up into grassland with lots of gorse on the slopes.

In the woodland a longhorn beetle Rhagium mordax found us. It landed on a Sycamore leaf and said “Photograph me”, so we did.

As we ascended the slope the wind grew stronger and colder, so finding a bit of shelter seemed wise. And there was gorse on the lower slopes. And Gorse means – Gorse shieldbugs. Needless to say no Gorse shieldbugs were found but we got plenty of exercise.

Another Invertebrately Challenged Tetrad Day drew to a close. We had not perhaps made the number of records that we would have liked but none the less it was a good day out.

I leave you with a photograph of the view from The Lawley with one of our group in the bottom right hand corner totally engrossed in checking what was in his net rather than enjoying the excellent scenery.

Keith Fowler

Mayday! Mayday! - Keith Fowler

The latest instalment of “Hunt the Shieldbug” took place on Mayday (Wednesday, 1st May). Eight of us gathered outside the Seven Stars inn, Beckbury for a stroll along the banks of the River Worfe.

Resisting the temptation of the Inn we strolled down the road to find the footpath. On the way we passed a gentleman tinkering with his white car, and when I say white, it was WHITE. He must wash it in 1% detergent and 99% optical brighteners. If you have seen my car you will understand why I could never own a car like that.

The footpath started at a rather unpromising style (at least there was a FP sign and style) and took us initially along the side of a steep slope and through a Blackthorn thicket. Trying to keep upright whilst wielding a sweep net and avoiding the thorns was extremely tricky. We soldiered on and espied several Gorse bushes in full flower. The problem was getting to them. They were at the bottom of the 50% slope. A couple of brave folk descended to the bushes and searched and searched but found no Gorse shieldbugs. We moved on.

The path eventually descended to the side of the river passing a small conifer plantation where we found a longhorn beetle Pogonocherus hispidus and a couple of micro-moths 6 Eriocrania subpurpurella and 345 Phyllonorycter rajella. A refreshments break was in order.

After drinks we moved on about 200 yds and had lunch.

That 200 yards had brought us to a sheltered area of grassy vegetation with the river on one side and trees on the other with a small sandstone rock-face thrown in. Despite there being few obvious nectar sources the area was a-buzz with activity. We spent a long time exploring before lunching.

It was here that a shield bug found us. A Bronze shieldbug Troilus luridus landed on one of the group’s hand. Needless to say it was admired and photographed before being  returned (with reluctance on its part) to the vegetation. It was the only shieldbug we saw all day.

As we were about to move on another longhorn beetle was spotted sunning itself on a fallen tree trunk – Rhagium mordax.

We continued to follow the river until we found a path that returned us to our starting point.

This turned out to be a delightful meander after the rather unpromising start and is worthy of a revisit later in the year. Its sheltered areas provided us with plenty of entertainment. We made about 80 records, many of which will be first records for the two tetrads we traversed.

Thank you to all who came.




Keith Fowler




.
.
.
.