Hodnet Countryside Site

Location : Half a mile east of Hodnet, grid ref SJ 622282 (for a map showing the location of the site click on the link)

Recreational Activities: Reasonably level, easy walking, may be muddy.

A rare colony of glow-worms can be found on this disused railway line, which is partly in a cutting and partly on an embankment.

This year's annual glow worm hunt was held on:-
Friday 26th June 2009

This years glow worm hunt was yet again washed out by torrential rain but those hardy souls that braved the weather did see a total of five females. The walk was led by Frank Tanner ex ranger for the site, and was assisted by two of the volunteer site rangers.
One of the reasons that the site is so good for glow worms is the abundance of snails and slugs that are the food source for the glow worm larva. The larvae apparently hunt them by following the slimily trail that they leave.

Glow-worm Facts

• a glow-worm is not a worm but a beetle (Lampyris nocctiluca).
• only the female glows and it can be seen over 45 meters away
• the males have wings and have large eyes, a must for spotting the females.
• females cannot fly
• there are two species of glow-worm in Britain, the common Glow-worm and the very rare Lesser Glow-worm.
• the light is a chemical reaction involving two substances called luciferin and luciferase.
• the reaction is extremely efficient, releasing at least 98% of its energy as light (a light bulb only produces 5% light the rest is wasted on heat)
• adults do not eat at all they have no mouthparts.

Glow-Worm update
July 2008

Last years appalling weather does not seem to have had any affect on the glow worms at Hodnet.

About 48 intrepid people ventured out at 10pm on Friday 20th June to see these fascinating creatures, and they did not disappoint.

The group saw 18 female glow worms along the site. One of our Volunteer Site Rangers did go out the night before to check there were some glow worms and he counted 45 and to quote his exact words “they were all over the place even on the path!”.
If you are walking the site and do spot a glow worm please contact our office.

If you would like to report your own sighting of glow worms or if you want to know a little more about glow worms or the national glow worm survey please click on the link to the National glow worm survey website.

The site is also important for a wide variety of birds especially Buzzards, Kestrels, Corn Bunting and Barn owls. There are plenty of Banded snails which is one of the main food items of the glow-worm.

Hodnet Bird Species

A local amateur ornithologist visited the railway line and recorded the following bird species.
Chaffinch 4
Woodpigeon 6
Wren 3
Blackbird 5
Robin 2
Song Thrush 1
Great tit 1
Willow Warbler 2
Whitethroat 2
Dunnock 5
Garden Warbler 1
Not on the site but in the farm land one Skylark.

This is an amazing count for just over one hour of observation. If you do visit the site and see something of interest please contact us we would love to know.

Visitors taking dogs should be aware that this is a narrow site and is sometimes grazed in order to maintain a variety of vegetation conditions suitable for glow-worms.

Grazing
Grazing is the best way of managing the grassland on this site and we are working with the 'Shropshire Local Grazing Scheme (SLGS)' to support or introduce grazing management where feasible. To find out more about the SLGS click the link.

If you or your organisation would like to hold a public event on this site please contact us

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