Shenstone Birder

21st -26th April 2014 - Shenstone & the surrounding areas

Monday 21st April 2014:

It was yet another mild sunny day so I decided to undertake a walk around the Heath Lane stretch of the patch to record the inverts. It proved to be a productive move as I recorded 5 Common Footman moth larvae and 1 Scarce Footman larva on the fence posts along the lane. The caterpillars of both of these species feed on lichens, of which there are plenty on the fence posts and dead wood along Heath Lane.

Common Footman (Eilema lurideola) larva

Scarce Footman (Eilema complana) larva

Also of great interest was discovering a Forest Bug nymph (a species of shield bug that I hadn't previously recorded on patch). Another invert goody came in the form of a 24-spot Ladybird. This tiny little ladybird actually has fine hairs on it's wing cases. Other species of Ladybird recorded along the lane today were 2-spot, 7-spot and Harlequin.

24-spot Ladybird (Subcoccinella 24-punctata)

Wednesday 23rd April 2014:
This morning I undertook a quick whistle-stop of Shenstone before heading off to do my voluntary work at the Worcestershire Biological Records Centre. This turned out to be a good call a I recorded a fall of 12 Northern Wheatears, all on the south side of the patch.

On the plough at Witch Lane there were 6♂ and 2♀ Wheatears present on the fresh plough and at Curslow Lane there were a further 3♂ & 1♀ Wheatears, also on the plough. This was to be the biggest fall of Wheatear on the patch this year in what had been otherwise a very poor Spring migration.

Also of note at Curslow Lane on the upper ploughed field were 2♂ Yellow Wagtails, 1♂ White Wagtail and 3 Pied Wagtails.

Common Whitethroats were now arriving back on patch with singing males noted at Stanklyn Lane, Heath Lane and Butts Lane.

Thursday 24th April 2014:
6 Northern Wheatears were still present on the freshly ploughed field at Witch Lane this morning.

Saturday 26th April 2014:
I only had time for a quick scoot around today but was really pleased to see 7 Corn Buntings at the Podmore end of Curslow Lane. A ♂ Corn Bunting was up singing on the wires and 6 others were perched nearby on the hedgerow below. Two Yellowhammers were also noted here.

Just down the road, in the potato field along Ryelands Lane, there were 2 Yellow Wagtails and 2 Pied Wagtails present.

At Hartlebury there were now 2 Little Grebes present at the small pools.

Back on patch there was little of note but for a Little Owl that was observed sat partially hidden in one of the trees.

Little Owl (Athene noctua)

15th April 2014 - Shenstone

The sunny weather continued and I started today's visit to the patch at Stanklyn Lane. Walking the outside edge of Stanklyn Wood I recorded 2♂ Brimstone butterflies, 3 Orange Tip (2♂, 1♀), 1 Peacock and 1 Small Tortoiseshell. In the gallops field the flower heads of Ribwort Plantain were starting to show.

Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)

Along Butts Lane I heard my first patch Willow Warbler of the year singing from the scrub opposite the entrance to Eastfields Farm. At the farm itself a pair of Swallows had returned and were zipping around the farm yard and disused barns

The days highlight though came from Witch Lane where an incredible 14 Common Buzzards were soaring high up on the thermals (and no I don't mean of the under garment variety!)

I finished the rounds on Heath Lane where a number Nursery Web Spiders were observed amongst the tall vegetation of the roadside verges.

Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

Monday 14th April 2014 - Monkwood NR

As today was a beautiful sunny day I decided to pay a visit to Monkwood NR. The reserve is co-owned and managed by Butterfly Conservation and the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust. It is a fantastic woodland reserve that hosts an array of wonderful invertebrates.

I arrived just before mid-day and began my circuit around. Butterfly numbers were impressive with the following recorded: 16 Brimstone (12♂, 4♀), 1 Comma, 2 Green-veined White, 20+ Orange Tip, 20+ Peacock and 6 Small Tortoiseshell. One of the highlights on the butterfly front was seeing a pair of Brimstones doing there courtship flight along the one ride, flitting and spiralling around each other in close proximity like some sought of ritual dance...magical!

Brimstone - 14^th April 2014

Green-veined White - 14^th April 2014

Orange Tip (♂) - 14^th April 2014

Also of note along the rides were good numbers of Large Bee Flies, included a few copulating pairs.

Large Bee Flies (Bombylius major) - 14^th April 2014

In the area surrounding the ponds I observed 3 teneral Large Red Damselflies. These were the first Odonata recorded in Worcestershire for 2014.

Large Red Damselfly - 14^th April 2014

The days highlight though didn't come in the form of an invert but rather that of a bird. Along the edge of one of the rides, reeling from deep within the scrubby vegetation was a Grasshopper Warbler. The bird did 4 bursts of its grasshopper like reeling call from what sounded like a few feet away, then it went quite but for a rustling/scurrying sound in the undergrowth. Do you think I could see the skulking little beggar? Not a chance!

Sunday 13th April 2014 - Shenstone

This afternoon I undertook a quick whistle-stop tour of 'the patch'. It was a lovely sunny day and a number of butterflies were active including Green-veined Whites, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells. The butterfly highlight though was a stunning ♂ Orange Tip, my first on patch this year.

The day's highlight came in the form of a bird when a Hobby came through over Heath Lane heading WNW. Also of note birdwise were a pair of Swallows that were flying around the stables/paddocks at Stanklyn Lane. Many Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were also now in and busy singing away. Two Corn Buntings were perched up on the wires at Heath Lane, one of which was in good voice.

Another species of interest today was a Queen Red-tailed Bumblebee that I noted just off Witch Lane. Along Heath Lane there was a fair amount of Shining Cranesbill in bloom

Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidaries)

Shining Cranesbill (Geranium lucidum)

New blog posts coming soon

My apologies top readers of this blog for the lack of blog posts of late, I am aiming to start clearing the back log (or should that be blog log) very soon!

I have actually done a fair amount of wildlife recording and observations over the past month and have much to write about. But for now, just to whet your appetite I will leave you with a few photos as a teaser of what's to come.

Check back soon
Jason

Small Tortoiseshell - Shenstone