END OF CRICKET SEASON

It was sunny enough on Monday 9th for this dark bush cricket pictured above, to be basking on a wooden post at the country park. Although it is a common bush cricket around the park in the summer, it would seem to be quite late in the year to still see bush crickets. This is the female with the long curved ovipositor protruding from its abdomen, which it uses to help it lay its eggs in rotten wood or bark crevices.

The central ditch in the grazing fields pictured above is slowly filling up with water following the recent autumnal rains. However the very dry summer saw water levels drop very low and there is still a lot more water needed to top this ditch back up to last winter's level.

The pools at the west end of the fields is where most of the ducks are gathered with 250 teal, 200 wigeon and a few shoveler enjoying the area. Also around this water have been a handful of black-tailed godwits, a few redshank and snipe too. Three little egrets roosted in an oak tree overlooking the pools during the high-tide.

Two siskins flew west without stopping over the park, calling as they went. The pair of stonechats were still present along the side of the seawall.

Martin Cock had an impressive count of 21 marsh harriers flying into the Langenhoe roost on Monday afternoon from the Shop Lane seawall. Sixteen birds were seen in the air together.

This yellow-line quaker moth was the only moth found in the trap on the Monday morning. This moth is a reglar visitor to the trap in the autumn in small numbers. However it's harder finding a suitable night for mothing at the moment when it isn't raining, windy or chilly.