Shield

Whilst sorting through our firewood yesterday I came across this curious looking creature.

Forest Shield Bug

I rescued it from the impending fire and watched it happily scuttling off into the undergrowth. A bit of investigation shows that this is a Forest Shield Bug, which has a liking for trees and apparently can be considered as a garden pest. I'm not sure I like the term 'garden pest', I'm quite happy with it being here.

We also had this lovely Angle Shades moth in the porch last night.

Angle Shades

White Ermine in the making

We found this curious looking creature on a wander up Batch Valley today.

White Ermine larva

Given the dark colour and red line line, you would possibly not expect that this would become a beautiful white moth. This is the larva of a White Ermine, a beautiful white moth with small black spots. The moth will not be flying until May of next year, and this larva will overwinter as a pupa in a cocoon amongst plant debris.

White Ermine larva

Also of interest this weekend, though escaping the camera lens, was a Kingfisher. Jo was lucky to see one on the way back to the house on Sunday morning, perched on a concrete slab before disappearing down the stream.

Brambles

Some beautiful flies on the brambles in the garden today. One of which I am yet to identify, this black insect with yellow 'armpits'. I am sure that it is some type of Tachinid fly, but not sure which one.

Tachinid Fly

Tachinid Fly

There was also this Green Bottle Fly.

Green Bottle Fly

Wind

A very windy night in Batch Valley. I put out the moth trap in the usual spot and promptly had to move it to the back of the house. It then rained and so I was delighted to catch any moths. I still managed a new one, a rather worn Brindled Green.

Brindled Green

Otherwise quite a variable catch. Nice to see a couple of Autumnal Rustics, as well as Brimstone Moths and some Common Marbled Carpets.

Common Marbled Carpet

Brimstone Moth

Hedging my bets

The moth trap went out last night before I went to the pub for a couple of ales, and when I came back I knew it was not going to be a great catch. It was clear and cold, and I could only see one moth in the trap. This morning I was therefore not surprised to only find 27 moths. Though I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were three new species for me.

The first of these was a Green Carpet, on the eggboxes I put around the outside of the trap. This is actually a rather common species and one I thought I would have seen by now.

Green Carpet

Whilst looking through the Flounced Rustics (again the most abundant species), I found two dark nocuitds. I first thought these were a dark from of the former, but a closer look meant they surely had to be something different. Curiously, whilst they both looked the same in terms of markings, they was a difference in size and structure between the two. I eventually settled on these being Hedge Rustics, and a look at images on the internet confirmed this.

Hedge Rustics

The other new moth was a Brown-spot Pinion. Apparently a very common moth which is beginning to come into it's flight season, so I am expecting a few more of these. Otherwise it was the usual suspects, though there was a nice Antler Moth in the trap as well.

Brown-spot Pinion

Antler Moth

A view of Batch Valley

We took a long planned walk to the top of Caer Caradoc today. This imposing hill is opposite All Stretton, and since we moved to Batch Valley we have been looking forward to making it to the top of the hill we see from our garden. We were not disappointed, with a glorious view of Batch Valley and the Long Mynd.

The view from the top of Caer Caradoc. Batch Valley is in the centre of the picture.

We were not the only ones out and about on Caer Caradoc today. Close to the very top we found this Fox Moth larva going about it's business. A species found across the Shropshire Hills, this is another insect to be looking out for around Batch Valley.

Fox Moth larva

The Moth Trap will be going out tonight. Not expecting a huge catch, but hoping for a few new species.

Hat decoration

This Black Darter was using a floppy hat as a resting place at Whixall Moss today.

Black Darter