A very unwelcome predator

Wednesday 8th June 2022, Venus Pool

The pool at Venus Pool, a bird reserve owned by the Shropshire Ornithological Society, is not the largest part of the site. It is surrounded by large meadows and a large arable field that is used to grow feed for overwintering birds.

We had been invited to visit the reserve to see what we could find, other than birds, making use of the meadows.

For some reason I was late getting to the meeting point in the car park. When I arrived I was told that the keyholder had forgotten the most important piece of equipment, the key to the gate to the meadow off the car park.

Rather than put life and limb at risk by climbing over the gate he offered to return home to retrieve the missing item.

Off he went.

What did the rest off us do?

Some of us were still getting ready following our tardy arrival …

Others milled around the car park …

The rest wandered off into the arable field.

One of these groups located a pair of 22-spot ladybirds enjoying the fine weather.

Photograph: David Williams

And another photographed an immature male Common blue damselfly

Photograph: Jim Almond

Later the same person found a female of the same species.

Photograph: Jim Almond

It was not by design that I was still in the car park when the key arrived, but I was.

The gate was opened to give us access to the meadow.

Now we had to round up those who had escaped from the car park. This achieved, we moved into the meadow to start doing what we enjoy doing – observing, sweeping, beating and vacuum sampling.

An early find was a rather striking moth larva, Helcystogramma rufescens.

Photograph: David Williams

Together with a male and female soldier fly Chloromyia formosa which has been granted the rather unflattering name Broad centurion.

The female;

Photograph: Jim Almond

And the male.

Photograph: Jim Almond

Various trees and bushes grew along the edge of the meadow including Sweet briar.

Buttercups were very common in this meadow and many held at least one insect in their flower. This one was occupied by a Swollen-thighed beetle, Oedemera nobilis.

Photograph: Jim Almond

A couple more dragon and damselflies were photographed:

An immature male Black-tailed skimmer;

Photograph: Jim Almond

And a Blue-tailed damselfly.

Photograph: Jim Almond

We drifted into the second meadow.

And immediately settled down for lunch.

This gathering of people attracted the attention of a cleg, probably Haematopota pluvialis, which is another candidate for the title of the “best eyes” contest.

Photograph: David Williams

Mind you, you tend not to notice the eyes when it starts to burrow into you to feed on your blood!

There was plenty of Salix in this area and inspection of these revealed the shiny beetle Crepidodera aurata, known as the Willow flea beetle.

Photograph: David Williams

In the taller vegetation close to the Salix we found plenty of Ragged robin in flower.

And this group of very sturdy orchids, the variety is unknown to me.

The weevil, Thryogenes nereis, was found (but not photographed) amongst some rushes.

Photograph: Emm Cane-Honeysett

On the other side of the meadow, away from this taller vegetation area, in the hedgerow that separated the meadow from the lane that leads to the car park, there was a large Ash. Resting within its foliage was a Clouded silver moth.

Now seems a good time to include photographs of four other moths that put in an appearance during the day:

A Burnet companion;

Photograph: Jim Almond

A Silver Y;

Photograph: Jim Almond

A Clouded border;

Photograph: Jim Almond

And a longhorn moth, Nemophora degeerella.

Photograph: Jim Almond

Wandering along the hedgerow we intercepted an animal that is definitely an unwelcome guest on a reserve for birds:

A CAT!

Thankfully it was not a big cat whose possible presence is periodically reported in the press.

Photograph: Neil Nash

This one looks as though it would not hurt a fly but it may grow up with a taste for the local fare.

A diversion for one of the group took him off to search some oaks elsewhere on the site to look for a particular ladybird. Some time later he returned flushed with success.

Photograph: David Williams

This is Scymnus auritus, one of the group of ladybirds known as “inconspicuous” ladybirds. Many of us are familiar with the large boldly patterned members of the ladybird family, such as 7-spot and, as in the first photograph, 22-spot, but there are quite a number of generally smaller and less noticeable members of which the above is one.

Another member of the “inconsipuous” group was found later in a Scot’s pine, Scymnus suturalis.

Photograph: David Williams

By mid-afternoon we progressed into the third and by far the largest meadow.

By now, unfortunately, we were tending to find the same beasts that we had earlier in the day. A desire to sit down, relax and enjoy the ambiance of the site spread amongst us.

However, we were able to find a couple of beetles to add to our species list for the day.

Sphaeroderma testaceum;

Photograph: David Williams

And, from oak, this beetle with the most amazing antennae, Ptilinus pectinicornis.

Photograph: David Williams

Walking to the highest point of the meadow we were presented with an excellent view over the pool (but far too distant to determine what birds may be on it).

Weary after an excellent day we made our way back to the cars and to our homes.

This week's Wednesday Weevil of the Week is Sitona waterhousei, whose bulgy eyes are such a striking feature that it  makes it easy to distinguish from similar species.

Photograph: Emm Cane-Honeysett

My thanks to the Shropshire Ornithological Society for giving us permission to do what we enjoy doing and access to parts of the reserve not generally open to the public. My gratitude to the photographers for providing their wonderful images.

Just look at those eyes

Wednesday 1st June 2022, St. Edith, Eaton-under-Heywood

Is this a repeat of last week’s report “The Eyes have it”?

Not really, but the most amazing sight of the day was the eyes of a male mayfly. As I could not really reuse the same title as last week I have had to a change it whilst keeping a similar meaning. More about the eyes later.

We met in the spacious car park of Eaton Manor. A bush of Box demanded our immediate attention. Within its leafy structure a few Box bugs were found to be in residence.

Photograph: David Williams

From the car park we progressed slowly to the church. On the way we spotted various bees visiting flowers at the side of the lane, together with a Painted Lady butterfly, which nobody thought to photograph.

St. Edith is a Grade I listed building. Parts of the church date from the 12th  century. Subsequent alterations were carried and it was restored in the middle to late 19th century.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

The church and its churchyard are situated on the lower slopes of Wenlock Edge.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

The interior of the church is very modest.

At the end of each beam supporting the roof there are carvings of faces looking at you. Here are a few examples:

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Photograph: Bob Kemp

The wooden altar has depictions of the leaves of the plant Elecampane carved into it.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

And here is an example of the plant, which can be found in the churchyard.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Standing by the Elecampane you get a good view of the church exterior.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

The churchyard is quite small which, apart from a few paths and small areas that have been cut, has been left to its own devices. This state of affairs was very much appreciated by the local bees.

There is not really a narrative to tell for the morning and early afternoon’s activities. We just milled around following our interests and noting what we found, pausing now and then for refreshments, lunch, a rest or a chat.

Having mentioned lunch …

A couple of benches were available in one of the mown areas and this made an obvious spot to gather.

Apart from the Box bugs that we found in the car park, the Painted lady and anonymous bees, I have yet mention anything that we found. It is time to rectify that.

As molluscs rarely appear in these reports here is a small section dedicated to them!

Arion subfuscus, Dusky slug;

Photograph: Mags Cousins

Oxychilus alliarius, Garlic snail;

Photograph: Mags Cousins

Oxychilus cellarius, Cellar snail and Aegopinella nitidula, Smooth glass snail.

Photograph: Mags Cousins

The pale bodied snail is Oxychilus cellarius and the dark bodied is Aegopinella nitidula.

An abundant plant, much visited by bees, was Dusky crane’s-bill. I am told it is a garden escape but it looked at home in the churchyard.

Photograph: John Martin

The Dusky crane's-bill may have been a garden escape but it was a long time ago as subsequent research by a member of the group has found that it was recorded on the site in 1892!

Amongst our other findings were:

A pseudoscorpion, possibly Chthonius ischnocheles;

Photograph: David Williams

A long-horned moth Nemophora degeerella;

Photograph: John Martin

A pair of 14-spot ladybirds;

Photograph: David Williams

A Swollen-thighed beetle;

A tachinid fly, a species of Thelaira;

Photograph: John Martin

A large click beetle, sorry I do know the species;

Photograph: David Williams

A harvestman, Homalenotus quadridentatus (with a mite on its back);

Photograph: David Williams

And the eyes.

Photograph: David Williams

They belonged to a mayfly which was identified as possibly being a Small spurwing, Centroptilium luteolum.

Whilst all these sightings were happening the lichenologists paid close attention to the church.

Midway through the afternoon we bid farewell to this delightful church and churchyard and spent an hour or so looking at the gardens and other areas around Eaton Manor, as well as enjoying the use of some seats in the warm afternoon sun.

My thanks to Caring for God’s Acre for arranging this visit and to the photographers for their excellent images.