Brewood & Loynton Moss

I'm a little behind, not that I haven't been looking & taking photos at our moorings, but I just haven't managed to put them on the blog.

We stayed at Brewood in Staffs for 2 nights, mainly as the weather was so wet we didn't fancy moving. I didn't see much in the way of interesting plants or bugs, but we did have some feathered visitors beside the boat. I used M as a hide to keep the camera dry!



Moorhen colecting leaves



Little grebe - I haven't seen many on the canals

Grey heron opposite the hatch

A few days later we stopped just North of Norbury Junction so that I could visit Loynton Moss Nature Reserve which is managed by the Staffs Wildlife Trust. I had a nice wander and took a few photos. Here's a selection of photos of the reserve, bugs & plants, some I've managed to identify & some I haven't! I wasn't actually next to Muriel, but never mind!

The bog/reed bed

Reeds recently chopped back

Stagnant water channels around reserve

Boggy reserve edges

Reserve information board



Shield bug, possibly Forest variety

 


Leiobunum rotundum (male). They are one of about 27 UK species of Harvestman. They are Arachnids, but unlike a a spider they have an undivided body. The legs on this species are VERY long.

  

Herb Robert



Herb Robert leaves

Herb Robert flower

Nice moss, my book only has a few club moss, which doesn't include this!

Small Tortoiseshell butterly

Red Campion flower

There were a few new plants & bugs beside M along the canal. It was in a damp cutting overshadowed by large trees.

M's mooring

Giant Hogweed, the plant not Simon! His 6'7" provides the scale!

Unknown bee, don't know if he was dead or asleep.

Cardinal beetle of some sort

Another Harvestman, species unknown

Variety of house fly, possibly Phaonia valida

Male Dicronopalpus ramosus, another Harvestman.

Female Dicronopalpus ramosus. This one is a bit of a cheat, she was only on M because she was in my bug pot having been captured crawling up my neck! I climbed across a load of moored boats at Napton Junctoion to tie us up & must have brushed by somehow. I thought it was from her web, but can't have been as they don't produce silk.