Today the weather looked promising-enough for a trip to the open expanse of Prees Heath on the outskirts of Whitchurch. An unprepossessing area of land between the A41 and A49 is an area of lowland heath with interesting plants and insects. It is partly owned by Butterfly Conservation and managed to preserve the only surviving Midlands population of the Silver-studded Blue butterfly (Plebejus argus). Another section has been bought and donated to The Shropshire Wildlife Trust who are restoring the eastern part of the area to more heathland. A small pond adds to the mix of habitats.
As an open area SD (social distancing) is not a problem. It is large-enough for dog-walkers to be largely invisible. One area is out of bounds for dogs not on short leashes to avoid disturbance to the ground-nesting birds.
Our visit was timed to coincide with the flight period of the Silver-studded Blue butterflies. Everything else was a bonus
Here are some images, starting with the blues.
Another male.
And here a female. As with many 'blues' the female is brown. The extent of the blue wash on the inner part of the wing is also variable. Note the 'print through' of the underwing pattern. I only noted 'print through' on a single male and then it was but a single mark.
Here feeding on the favourite food-plant Bell Heather (or Ling) (Erica cinerea)
A different female showing rather more blue.
A pair mating, the male at the top. As with the upper-wing, the female's underwing is brown toned.
Not too many other species of butterfly around at the moment – when the thistles open in a few weeks there will be many more. This is a Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus). For some reason I have never found this small, but common, butterfly at Priorslee.
This is a Meadow Brown butterfly (Maniola jurtina). This one frustrated me in that it would not sit with the underside of its forewing exposed to allow me to point out the single white dot in the black wing-spot that distinguishes it from the double-spotted Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) which is not yet flying. "Yes but the Small Heath has a single white spot" I hear you exclaim. But that butterfly is too small for confusion to arise.
There were a few birds around to distract me from the butterflies. This Skylark was one of many claiming its territory. Showing signs of a busy breeding season. Soon be time for the post-breeding moult to get new feathers.
One is never too far away from confusing grass moths at the moment. This is an Inlaid Grass-veneer (Crambus pascuella). The broad white stripe along the wing gets the ID as far as Crambus sp. The wing-tip marks, flight dates and location are all useful in specific identification.
This is a Yellow Shell moth (Camptogramma bilineata). A very variable species easy to disturb in day-time. I have never seen one with such an obvious dark band, nor with clear white edging.
As I noted on the main Priorslee Lake blog this is one of the few moths that are easy to identify if they fly past you – a Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae).
The caterpillars look very different in their Rugby-striped jerseys. They feed on Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) - note the tie-up in scientific names. This is a distasteful plant but the caterpillars can deal with those toxins but it makes them most unattractive for birds to eat. Thus the typical warning 'yellow and black' colouration of something that might hurt you.
They do like Ragwort.
Look: a damselfly with periscopes! Well not really. This Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) was clasping a flower-spike of a Plantain. The flower is mainly over and just the final two small flowers remain.
Around the pond I found this dull-looking Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum). The males are usually red-bodied except when freshly emerged. This is a likely a female, though without seeing the tip of the abdomen I cannot be sure.
Also around the pond was this well-marked lacewing Chrysopa perla. It is often called Green Lacewing though that name is used for other species of green lacewings.
Three for the price of one. Two not too interesting – my finger and part of an Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare). The Mirid bug with the distinctly 'bent' antennae looks like Leptopterna dolobrata - a species that I noted at Priorslee earlier in the day.
Buried in the middle of a thistle head is a Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius).
This seems to be a female Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis). The females lack the swollen thighs. They distinctively rest with the elytra held slightly open.
This seems to be another female Swollen-thighed Beetle. Odd because there did not seem to be any males around. Now I look at the photo there seems to be another, perhaps beetle, under her left side. It is hard to tell what might be going on but it is too small to be a male.
Makes a change from the dozens and dozens of Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) ladybird larvae I have been seeing. This is a 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata) larva.
There were many unfamiliar or only vaguely familiar plants. Some I thought I might be able to ID like this. I am sure that my partner's mother used to grow this in her garden, stolen from the local woods (different times). I would get a clip around the ear (she was an old-fashioned teacher) for not being able to remember. The best I can offer is Dotted Loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata), though the habitat seems too dry.
This flower I will also attempt. The bundles of multiple stamens are a pointer to the St John's Wort (Hypericum) family. Beyond that ... the narrow leaves and black-specks on the flowers yet to open suggest Toadflax-leaved St. John's Wort (H. linariifolium). That is noted as "very rare" with the closest population in N. Wales.
I am going to take a punt at Catmint (Nepeta cataria) for this. The leaves match the painting in my illustrated flora. Pictures on the web are less supportive of this view. Often the density of the white flowers is greater but on poor heathland soil fewer may not be unusual.
My identification of this flower is Musk-mallow (Malva moschata). I think it is too pale for Common Mallow.
One of the Lycoperdon species of stalked puffballs. Most likely Common Puffball (L. perlatum) but it is an unusual date to find this species. I cannot find not photos of this (or any other species) with such a crazy-paving effect.
(Ed Wilson)