Berrington, Shropshire! Not the Shire of Hereford

Berrington Hall, Wednesday 5th May 2018

First things first. We visited Berrington Hall in Shropshire, not the place with the same name that is a National Trust house in Herefordshire.

Right! Having got that confusion out of the way....

Ten of us turned up at the correct site for a day wandering around the grounds of this former rectory.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

The house was built in 1805 and served as a rectory for many years. The current occupants are the Crabapple Community who were formed in 1975, taking on the house a couple of years later. The house is surrounded by extensive grounds including grassland, woodland and gardens. And it was these that we spent the day exploring.

After parking in front of the house the first thing we noticed were a couple of impressive trees. These were identified as Tulip trees. The following photograph is of the leaves.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

After kitting up we moved into the grassland at the front of the house.

This area and the woodland surrounding it proved very productive and we spent a considerable amount of time here. Some of the things we found were:

The tortoise beetle Cassida vibex:

Photograph: David Williams

A weevil that we found on oak and identified as Curculio venosus

Photograph: Bob Kemp

The hoverflies Leucozona lucorum:

Photograph: Bob Kemp

and Eristalis intricarius:

Photograph: Bob Kemp

A bee-fly Bombylius major:

Photograph: Tony Jacques

A noon-day fly Mesembrina meridiana:

Photograph: Tony Jacques

Mating dock bugs:

Photograph: David Williams

A lonely Sloe bug (also known as a Hairy shieldbug):

Photograph: David Williams

A Tawny mining-bee

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

And our first damselfly of the season, a Large red damselfly:

Photograph: David Williams

What a lot of photographs, and nothing about what happened! The best approach. This is about the wildlife we find after all.

Yes, we did move on and yes, it was time for lunch. But as we finally left the grassland looking for a suitable spot to eat we noticed a female Orange-tip just passing the time of day on a nettle leaf.

A path led from the grassland into a strip of woodland. We followed this for a while then settled down for lunch.

Settled down is not quite the right word. There was nowhere to sit apart from the ground, which was very damp. There was a circle of chairs set out in the grounds at the edge of the grassland but we had left those behind when entering the wooded area. It was too far to walk back to them (at least a hundred yards) so most ate their lunch standing.

Eating lunch standing gives you more opportunity to find things as you move around and your eyes wander. And so it proved.

Baccha elongata, a hoverfly with a long thin abdomen that normally skulks around the undergrowth, was resting on a nettle leaf.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

The groundbug Scolopostethus grandis was spotted, not living up to its general name, climbing a tree.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Lunch over we made our way along the path through the woods until it opened up into the garden. As we reached the end there was great excitement when a pair of mating Pebble hook-tip moths were spotted. Taking photographs did not disturb their activity.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Nearby a larva was found in a tree. This was later identified as a Mottled umber moth larva.

Photograph: David Williams

We now wandered around the garden and its surrounds. There were several beds either dug out or in use, a number of poly tunnels, a small more formal garden and plenty of areas of rough vegetation. There were also three compost heaps which immediately drew our attention, looking for compost heap specialists such as Lesser earwig and pseudoscorpions. Alas, despite extensive searching, none were found.

There are now a couple of photographs from several taken around the time we were in the garden showing insects busy attempting to preserve their species.

Tipula varipennis:

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

Helophilus pendulus:

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

There was also the unwelcome sight for a gardener of a Large white which, thankfully, for the gardeners, flitted happily away. However a Small white had taken up residence.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

An ant was photographed carrying a springtail in its jaws.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Slime moulds rarely get a mention. I think the last one was when we went to Pentre Wood last year. Well, long overdue, here is another, spotted on a log - Lycogala terrestre.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Time was marching on; I checked the time - we were doing overtime! We left the garden passed through another patch of grassland then found our way to a walled garden.

The first thing to notice (or miss in my case) was a hole in the wall where a colony of Honey bees had made their nest. The wall was also a good host for lichens including lichens that parasitize other lichens.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Our master lichenologist provided the explanation - Phaeophyscia orbicularis is the grey, lobed, lichen on the middle and left of the photograph. The darker grey circles are the submerged apothecia (fruit bodies) of the parasitic lichen Arthonia phaeophysciae before they break through. 

I could not have expressed it any better!

What was going on over the far side of the garden?

It was another compost heap. Another opportunity to find Lesser earwig, etc.. 

All in vain. 

No earwigs and no pseudoscorpions.

We did go home ... eventually .... 

An excellent day in an excellent and varied site.

My thanks to the Crabapple Community for granting us permission to explore their grounds and the interest shown by members of the community. My thanks also to the photographers, David Williams, Bob Kemp, Jim Cresswell and Tony Jacques who willingly provided most of excellent photographs that make producing this report a pleasure. I apologise to all four for not using all their photographs.

Postscript

On the following Friday evening we re-visited Berrington Hall, this time to hold a moth night. The weather was unkind to humans - very wet - but, I am told, moths do not mind the rain!! 

We did not catch many moths but there was a good variety of species with some species that we do not see very often.

When the rain stopped as we were packing up our intrepid photographer managed to photograph a few of our finds. Unfortunately the weather meant that he had to take the shots with the moths in pots which is not the ideal background.

Small phoenix - Photograph: David Williams

Streamer - Photograph: David Williams

White-pinion spotted - Photograph: David Williams

Least black arches  - Photograph: David Williams