Silver-studded blue day

Wednesday 3rd July 2024, Prees Heath

Prees Heath is a Butterfly Conservation reserve that hosts a colony of Silver-studded blue butterflies.

During World War II the site was used as an airfield. Post war most of the common was ploughed up and used for crops. It was purchased in 2006 by Butterfly Conservation who has have managed the heathland regeneration transforming it into what it is now. 

More information about the site can be found by following this link: https://www.preesheathcommonreserve.co.uk/

Arriving at the site’s parking area, at the sides of a rough track across the reserve, we found a second group had also arranged to visit the site causing a bit of a parking mayhem. Fortunately there was enough room for us all to fit in safely and not block access.

The track divides the site in two. The area to the north is by far the largest part and was the first area to be restored. The area to the south was restored quite recently.

Which way to go?

This was solved when the other group went into the northern area.

We went into the southern part! 

[This was my plan anyway, as our last attempt to look at this area was ended prematurely by persistent rain. But rarely do we do what I plan!!]

This area was a mixture of wide strips of sandy grassland and heather surrounded on two sides by woodland and the other two by the A49 and the track.

An early find was a Mottled grasshopper.

Photograph: David Williams

Then the shout we were delighted to hear in this year of very poor butterfly sightings, “Silver-studded blue”.

And there were, thankfully, quite a few of them.

The cool start to the day made them reluctant to fly and we were able to approach quite close to admire them. As the day warmed up in pleasant sunshine, they became more flighty.

Photograph: David Williams

We were pleased to see that they were keen to contribute towards the next generation.

Photograph: David Williams

As we continued our searches the main areas of interest were the grassland, the heather and the scrub around the edge.

It was in the scrub that we found a Ruby tiger moth larva;

Photograph: David Williams

And a Vapourer moth larva.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Beating a gorse bush growing alongside the track revealed a Gorse shieldbug and a Green shieldbug.

This was followed by a Kentish snail, Monacha cantiana.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Despite its regionalised local name it is established throughout most of England.

Examination of a bush of broom revealed this beetle:

Photograph: David Williams

Although we were unable to identify it in the field we should have known that it is a Broom leaf beetle, Gonioctena olivacea!

Returning from a trip to the far end of the site the photographer informed me that he had found the hoverfly Helophilus hybridus.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

This was followed by finding a largish click beetle, Agrypnus murinus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Unfortunately I am not sure when the next insect was found so now is as good a time to introduce it as any, a sawfly identified with 100% certainty by "AI" as Tenthredopsis coquebertii. 

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

I look forward to being told if "AI" got it right.

For once lunch was a staggered affair. Somehow the usual telepathic call to gather for lunch did not happen. As a result, some had finished their supplies before some rovers had returned. And throughout this period discoveries were being made.

A Fan-bristled robberfly, Dysmachus trigonus.

Photograph: John Martin

The eggs and hatchlings of a Hairy shieldbug also known as a Sloe bug.

Photograph: David Williams

And a Common lizard.

Photograph: Liz Roberts

After this extended lunch break, we crossed the tracks to the other side.

This area was unexpectedly quiet, and we met very few other people. 

Venturing off the beaten track we made for eastern side of this area.

A Small skipper made an appearance.

Photograph: John Martin

Followed by a moth, identified as Gypsonama sociana.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And another, Aristotelia ericinella.

Photograph: John Martin

Soldier beetles have been out and about for a few weeks but on this visit we saw our first of the later emrging beetle Rhagonycha fulva.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

This is a medium-sized red beetle whose elytra have a black tip. It is often found in pairs engaged in creation which has led to it acquiring the common name of Bonking beetle! It normally lives up to this name.

Leaf rolls were noticed on an alder.

Photograph: Liz Roberts

I believe that this was caused by the Birch leaf roller, Deporaus betulae, a weevil that cuts slits in a leaf, curls and glues the cut section into a roll, as in the photograph, then lays an egg in the roll. Normally it uses birch leaves but it is also found on Alder and Hazel.

Some conifers came in for scrutiny and yielded an Eyed ladybird (our largest ladybird) and a Scymnus suturalis (rather smaller). I will leave you to guess which is which in the photograph.

Photograph: David Williams

It was getting towards the end of the day and, remarkably, we all gathered around some grassy hummocks in a small clearing among a line of trees. Searching the neighbourhood of this area was rewarding.

A Slender-horned leatherbug, Ceraleptus lividus.

Photograph: David Williams

This is only the fourth time this insect has been recorded in Shropshire and Prees Heath is the furthest north it has been found in the county.

We then found a dead cranefly, Tipula unca. On its genital region there were two white blobs. What are they? It has been suggested that they may be eggs, possibly a Tachinid fly.

Photograph: Joahn Martin

Then we found a micro-moth, Eucosoma campoliliana.

Photograph: John Martin

Followed by a tiny moth which we could only able to identify as a species of Stigmella.

Photograph: John Martin

As we made our way off the reserve the larva of a Beautiful yellow underwing was spotted on the heather.

Photograph: Liz Roberts

And finally, a very striking hoverfly, Xanthogramma pedissequum.

Photograph: John Martin

A very pleasant day had been spent on a good site. The Silver-studded blues had put on a show for us, but, although we found a lot of other species the numbers of each was, like other sites this year, very disappointing.

BUT we did find one species that was new to the county, a frit fly, Thaumatomyia hallandica.

My thanks Butterfly Conservation for granting us permission to enjoy ourselves and to the photographers for providing their excellent images for this report.

Into the Wilderness

Wednesday 19th June 2024, Ropewalk Meadow, Loamhole Dingle

We have visited Loamhole Dingle many times in the past. Generally, we start from the car park and follow the stream in the bottom of the valley before rising after lunch onto the Ropewalk path along the western flank to complete the circuit. 

Ropewalk Meadow arrives towards the end of this path.

And as by that time we are usually tired and ready to go home, it receives less attention than it deserves.

So…

This time the outing was specifically aimed at visiting the meadow first.

Then…

Rather than do the "usual" circuit in reverse order we visited other meadows called Wilderness Meadows, into which we had never set foot in before.

Having parked at the Community car park we were faced with the short but stiff uphill walk to the entrance to Ropewalk Meadow.

My heart sank when some of the group, out of habit, made for the pool to follow our usual route!

However, this deviation was soon nipped in the bud, and we huffed and puffed up, lugging our equipment, to the target area.

Following the track to the site we noticed a largish yellow daisy-like flower, not unlike many other largish yellow daisy-like flowers, but this was Leopard’s-bane. And on the plant posed a Swollen-thighed beetle, Oedemera nobilis.

Photograph: David Williams

Patchy sunshine greeted us as we arrived in the meadow and set about doing what we enjoy doing.

I am very fortunate that attendees take lots of photographs of what they find and send them to me to allow me to include them in the report. Most of these include the time they were taken as part of their background information. I can then use this information to put them into some sort of order for presenting in the report.

On this occasion only about half the photographs I received included a time taken, so, I have had to guess where they may have found! 

What is certain is that they were found during the day!

We spent the morning mooching around Ropewalk Meadow before lunching and moving on.

The meadow was adorned with plenty of orchids, betony and many other flowers. This in turn attracted, by current low standards, quite a few Meadow brown butterflies, but perhaps not as many as it deserved, plus a few other species.

What did we see and photograph?

A tortoise beetle, Cassida vibex.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Hairy snail, Trochulus hispidus;

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A labyrinth spider, Agelena labyrinthica.

Photograph: Neil Nash

A robber fly, Dioctria linearis.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A weevil, Tatianaerhynchites aequatus, known as the Apple fruit rhynchites.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Worm slug, Boettgerilla pallens.

Photograph: Neil Nash

A distinctive micro-moth, Pseudargyrotoza conwagana.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A mirid bug, Dicyphus errans.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A long-horn beetle, Stenocorus meridianus.

Photograph: John Martin

And a Welsh chafer, Hoplia philanthus.

Photograph: David Williams

There being no seats in the meadow we noticed a few large cut logs in a woodland clearing off the meadow. These looked too good to pass by and we lunched in that area. The “have-nots” (i.e. those without portable seats) perched on the logs and the “haves” (those with seats) scattered around the area.

There was a brief shower.

Lunch over we moved into the area known as The Wilderness, a series of three meadows that run alongside the main footpath.

This is a view of the first of the meadows.

These were large expanses of flower-rich grasslands, surrounded by hedges and woodland.

A host of Common spotted orchids littered the grassland!!

At this point we became rather strung out as we wandered around these meadows, with one or two reluctant to leave Ropewalk Meadow and move on into the wilderness.

By now the weather was very pleasant in sunshine, obscured periodically by passing cloud, but, surprisingly and disappointingly, there was no obvious increase in invertebrate activity, reflecting the situation we had been finding for several weeks now – good habitat but low numbers.

What did we find?

Another weevil, Strophosoma melanogrammum.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Woundwort shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

A micro-moth, Argyresthia brockeella.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A cranefly, Limonia phragmitidis.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Eventually we all regathered around a gate into the second meadow. But our work continued.

Photograph: John Martin

And invertebrates continued to pose for photographs.

A 4th instar nymph of a Common green grasshopper.

Photograph: David Williams

A further weevil Hypera postica, known as the Clover leaf weevil.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a 4th instar nymph of a Meadow grasshopper.

Photograph: David Williams

In a damper area of the meadows some Bristle Club-rush, Isolepis setacea, was spotted.

Photograph: John Martin

This had been recorded in the area before…

In 1892!!

We extracted ourselves from the meadow onto the main path and started to head home.

I was distracted by a flying object.

Fortunately, for once, I was able to follow it as it landed on a nettle leaf, then flew to a nearby Hazel leaf.

A Hazel leaf-roller.

Photograph: David Williams

The name derives from the behaviour of the female which, prior to egg-laying, will cut a slit in a hazel leaf, then roll the edge of the leaf into a cylindrical structure into which she lays an egg.

Nearby a Black-headed cardinal beetle was noticed.

Photograph: David Williams

Finally, as we made our way back to the cars, the larva of a sawfly was observed.

Photograph: John Martin

It was identified later as Tenthredo zona.

We made it, at last, to the cars and returned home after an interesting day in some very nice habitat.

Wednesday 26th June 2024, Mason’s Bank and Lower Shortditch Turbary SWT Reserves

I was away for the visits to these two neighbouring upland reserves in the southwest of the county. I have not received a summary of the day to pass on other than it was HOT and they made some interesting finds.

Fortunately, I have been sent some photographs of some of their interesting finds and am able to include these.

The first stop was Mason’s Bank. 

This site is an ancient heath that was planted with conifers in the 1960s. When the trees were felled at the turn of the century, heather and bilberry returned. As the heathland regenerates, so its characteristic wildlife is returning.

Clearly beetles attracted the attention as the photographs show!

A ground beetle, Loricera pallicornis.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A weevil, Phyllobius pyri.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A ladybird, Nephus redtenbacheri.

Photograph: David Williams

A large click beetle, Prosternon tessellatum.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A second click beetle, Hypnoidus riparius.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A second ladybird, Rhyzobius litura.

Photograph: David Williams

Moving on…

The second site, Lower Shortditch Turbary is also heathland that was used in the past for turf and peat cutting.

More of a mixed bag of insects from this site.

A bee-fly. Not the relatively common Dark-edged, bee-fly, Bombylius major, 

Or the fairly recent arrival Dotted bee-fly, Bombylius discolor, 

But the Western bee-fly, Bombylius canescens. This, currently, seems to be local to the southwest tip of the county.

Photograph: David Williams

A ground beetle, Pterostichus madidus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A nymph of the Spiked shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

A Small grass shieldbug.

Photograph: David Willliams

An Orchid beetle, Dascillus cervinus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A Common green grasshopper.

Photograph: David Williams

And finally, a Bishop’s Mitre.

Photograph: David Williams

My thanks Severn Gorge Countryside Trust and Shropshire Wildlife Trust for granting us permission to enjoy ourselves and to the photographers for providing their excellent images for this report.