+ Bugs, Bees & Botany + Summer Fayre + Rhos Orpheus Concert Success + Dingy Skipper+ Open Day Report+ First Butterflies + Skylarks sighted + Harvey finds more fungi  + Lamp Parade was a Great Success  + Coal Tub Refurbishment + Fungi Foray at Ifton Meadows+

Bugs Bees and Botany Day at the Meadows 5th September 2010

It was a great day. There were about a dozen of us and we enjoyed the company and expertise of three people who are very passionate about the natural world. Mark Duffel recorded some 150 species of plants, Ian Cheeseborough was delighted to find eight species of Sheild Bugs as well as a number of bumble bees and a few solitary bees. Pete Boardman, who had organised the day, and has visited the site many times declared the day a great success. We certainly enjoyed it and I was delighted to see my first Stonechat!

The following photos show examples of what we saw.

 The image on the left is of a male Stenotus binotatus.

     These small insects mainly feed on the flowering heads of grasses.

They can be seen from April through to September and are quite common. The adult is only about 6-7mm in length.

This is the Green Shield Bug        

Otherwise known as the Stink Bug!

 It is common in gardens and will grow to some 12-14mm in length.

 Both young and aduls may overwinter.        

 On the left  The Gatekeeper butterfly.

The dark patches on the forewing identify it as a female. The dark patch is absent in the male.

It is often seen on the margins of fields and woodland and typically rests with wings outspread.

The two white spots in the eye on each of the forewings are characteristic.

(photos courtesy of Pete Bordman)

Bat Walk at Ifton Meadows August 2010

A small group enjoyed great success in identifying some six bat species including Pipistrelles and the Noctule.

A fuller report will appear shortly.

St Martins Summer Fayre 2010

We all enjoyed meeting our old friends and making new ones. It was beautiful weather and the day passed all too quickly. We thank you for your support once again. 

The Rhos Orpheus Male Choir at St Martins 2010

 It was an excellent evening once again. This was the first time the choir had performed in the parish church and it was declared an outstanding success. The choir do look forward to singing in St Martins. I actually think it has more to do with Ifton’s hospitality!     

The choir opened with their stirring rendition of ‘Men of Harlech’ and there followed a varied programme including the evergreen favourite ‘Myfanwy’, a couple of hymns , and of course the solo spot from Alf Gladman. Exceptionally, this year, the Choir brought a father and son Ukele duo with Joe Herson strumming and singing some Formby ballads.     

The interval allowed time for everyone to enjoy a glass of wine in the Chapter House and later the choir retired to the Cross Keys for some supper provided by the ladies of Ifton, and some beer served by Nigel. The evening went on and I am told they sank a few and sung a few and everyone had a great time. 

 All comments received have been positive and it is generally thought that the church is a great venue for this sort of event. We had friends join us from as far as Llansantfraid, and it was good to see them. We made a small profit, made a contribution to the church, and this will help fund future events.   

So – our thanks to Stuart and his people at the church , Nigel at the Cross Keys, Pam at Woodcocks for selling the tickets, and to the friends of Ifton Meadows who again supported us. As to the Rhos Orpheus we thank them and look forward to seeing them return. 

Dingy Skipper

A total of six sightings of this rather rare butterfly were recenly reported by Pete Bordeman who came to the Meadows specifically to try and find them. These butterflies rely on the birds foot trefoil which we have at Ifton.

Updated to 10 sightings a week later!

2010 Open Day May 8th

It wasn't the best weather of the year but we enjoyed our picnics along with St Martins Brownies and Rainbows.

And when the weather cleared we were entertained by the Brownies & Rainbows dancing around the maypole.

Then the adults had a go.

To finish the day we trooped of on a nature walk, led by Camilla.  We saw what we think was a crab apple, bluebells and lots more

.

Chloe, had a good day. She found part of  a pheasant egg and this fungus.

It is called Daldinia Concentrica or King Alfreds Cakes.  Obviously burnt! Look out for it on Ash trees that are dying.

Special thanks for the help of Heather and her Brownies and Rainbows for a great day.

There are more maypole photos on The Gallery

First Butterflies

A group led by Shropshire's Pete Bordman, recently recorded the first butterflies of the year. There were several sightings of both  Commas with their deeply contoured wings ( see photos below) and Peacocks.

Skylarks reported    

A two hour survey recently identified some 17 species on the meadows. This included skylarks. See the full report here.

Harvey finds more fungi

Our ranger, Harvey Morgan, had a final fungi foray of the year on November 21st. He commented on the change over the last month and with a little rain and mild weather, managed to record the following:

Lepista nuda - Wood Blewit
Hygrocybe coccinea - Scarlet Waxcap

Hygrocybe conica - Blackening Waxcap

Laccaria proxima - Scurfy Deceiver

Thelophora terrestris - Earth fan

Lactarius glycyosmus - Coconut-scented Milkcap

Lactarius rufus - Rufous Milkcap

We all look forward to his next walk when he can invite us along. I suspect 2010 !!!!

 

Lamp Parade 31st October 2009

The Lamp Parade, on a dry and bright moonlit night at Ifton Meadows, was declared a great success.

Free lantern workshops had been held during the previous week at St Martins Centre. Two sessions were held, led as usual by Mary Lewery. The workshops produced some fifty brand new lanterns. They were made entirely by the children, with a little guidance. It was noted that some of the children looked a little long in the tooth!  Additionally some older lanterns were refurbished. All were fitted with candles, lighting doors, and all were labelled for collection on the Saturday evening.

 The Saturday evening of course was Halloween and everyone met at the marquees which had been erected at the bottom meadow, by the main Colliery entrance to the meadows. Lanterns were collected, even a few spares were handed out and the lanterns were lit.  

Neil led the parade and Ifton Brass Band moved off as the path was lit by over 120 firecans, and It was a marvellous sight to see some 250 people, carrying lanterns of every size, shape and description, making their way up to the viewpoint.  There was a pause to hear a commentary on the shadow boards which depicted the history of local mining. There was the manual toil of miners in the bell pit. The second board illustrated the pit pony pulling the coal tub in the inclined shaft. The final depiction showed the might of steam power complete with the shaft winding gear.

The parade continued up the main path which was lit with firecans and the children clearly enjoyed the walk! The atmosphere was great and the view from the top was incredible. Sadly no-one at the top had a camera!

On arrival at the viewpoint, the fire eaters and jugglers entertained the children before lighting the beacon.

Efforts to release Chinese lanterns from the top failed due to the high wind, but it certainly whipped up the flames of the beacon.

On returning to the bottom meadows it was quite a social occasion. Tea and hot dogs were on offer and people were chatting away for quite some time. We discovered that we had more first time visitors than in recent years.  It was great to see them, and we do hope they will come back. As a bonus Ann and some willing helpers managed to get some Chinese lanterns airborne!

Ann sends thanks to Ifton Brass Band, Mary Lewery, the jugglers Russel KIrk and Jason Sheppard, the volunteers who made it possible, and most importantly the people who came and joined in! 

Coal Tub Refubishment

Ifton have recently aquired the photos showing the 2008 refurbishment of the Coal Tub which now stands  at the main entrance to Ifton Meadows. Our thanks go to Premier Bodies Ltd, based in the village, who supported the project and used their expertise to restore a rust bucket into the coal tub which we all see today.                                                

Fungi Foray at Ifton Meadows

Friday October 2nd saw a group of some ten local people enjoying a walk in the afternoon sunshine of a very dry autumn, looking for fungi. Fungi which love moist, damp or even wet conditions! Harvey warned us that we might have a difficult day.

Harvey Morgan is the ranger, from Shropshire Countryside Team, who is responsible for Ifton Meadows.  Luckily for us he is a local man and something of an expert in  fungi. We all learned  lot and we do thank Harvey for making the learning so enjoyable.

We actually had a really successful afternoon and found 13 different species of fungi, which we list below. We will add some more pictures when we can be sure of the correct identification.  We hope to repeat this event next year. Thanks to Alex and Neil for the photos.

      List of species

Latin Name	Common Name	Photograph
Amanita muscaria	Fly agaric
Heboloma crustuliniforme	Poison Pie
Lacarius turpis	Ugly Milk Cap
Lactarius pubescens
Collybia fusipes	Spindle-shank
Paxillus involutus	Brown Roll Rim
Calvatia excipuliformis	Pestle-shaped Puffball
Leccinum scabrum	Birch Bolete
Mycena inclinata	one of the Bonnet-Cap family
Xylaria Polymorpha	Dead man's Fingers
Ganoderma applanatum	Artist's Fungus
Amillaria mellea	Honey Fungus