Taking full advantage of the warm September weather, the study group was given permission to visit the Snuffmill Pools, located just a short way out of the town of Bewdley. The pools were once used to feed the mill that stood nearby but in recent decades have been largely overlooked as they are located on private land.

With approval to visit this largely undisturbed area, consisting of three interconnected pools and surrounded by woodland, hopes were running high among the group that some interesting and perhaps new records would be discovered during the visit.

High on the list of ‘wanted’ insects were several small ladybird species, of special interest to Brett. Amazingly, one of these diminutive ladybirds was discovered by him just a few yards from the first pool, an interesting county record!

The Snuffmill Pools had many more surprises to offer and for the rest of the visit, the still autumn air surrounding the pools and woodland was regularly punctuated by shouts of ‘wow’ and surprise as more interesting finds were identified and recorded.