Each year, being a bit of a saddo, I produce a "target list" of the various specimens of wildlife that I would like to see and record photographically. This May I had scheduled a two week slot to find both the Field Cricket and a Clubtail dragonfly, all compressed between the Hawfinch trip and a visit to La Brenne in France. Of course the one big variable is the weather, and the cooler weather has meant that most insects seem to be late this year. However, this afternoon the sun was beating down from a clear sky and I decided that the time could be spent looking for the cricket.
Back in 1992 the Field Cricket was a racing certainty for extinction in the UK, and like lots of threatened species, was once common. Its preferred habitat is short dry grassland. Back then the loss of such heathland environment meant that it was confined to a single colony in West Sussex which was estimated to consist of just 100 specimens. Being flightless meant that migration to more suitable sites was impossible and without intervention it would be another sad loss for the UK. Happily, reintroductions by English Nature started in 1992 and the RSPB contributed from 2010, now there are at least ten sites where it can be found.
May is the best time to find them, the males construct a burrow with a sandy patio and use this to attract a mate with their curious stridulation which can be heard from a long distance. Hearing them is easy but locating one to photograph proved to be another problem. Still, on my first go I managed to record the following. Perhaps time for another go early next month.
Sorry about the camera shake and the focus noise, next time I shall know what I am doing!
For the nerds a sonogram created from Ravenlite, high pass filter at 300hz to remove aircraft noise.
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