Glow-worm hunters' late night rewarded

After the recent Hodnet Footpaths Group meeting on 23rd June, Niall Gallivan motivated an expedition to the disused railway track to look for Hodnet’s glow-worm colony. The group consisted of some members of the Footpaths Group along with family and friends, and was led by Wendy Roberts (and her faithful jogging companion Maggie May) who has helped Shropshire Countryside staff to monitor glow-worms numbers in this area for some years.
The colony is found along the old railway track in the section north-east of Station Road. It was a cold breezy night and the sun did not set until 10.30. In spite of the fears that it might be too cold or too light for us to see anything, patience was rewarded and 6 glowing females were spotted by members of the group. Unfortunately they were low down in the grass, which made photographing them even more difficult.
Female glow-worms only display in this way during the mating season from mid June to mid July. For more information, see our wild-life page here, or the glow-worm website at www.glowworms.org.uk where you can find much better pictures than these!

Without a flash a shaky glow was the best result
With a flash the dark patch in the centre was all that showed