This Speckled Bush Cricket nymph was perched up on the Golden Rod flowers. They are more active at night and around dusk than in full daytime (2.00 pm in this case), but this one didn’t seem bothered about being out in the sunshine.
More photos from our French trip. It’s always amazes me to see the number of grasshoppers and crickets that you get in the South of France. Here are some really of the larger and more impressive ones I managed to photograph in the French Alps. There’s a lot of species and I didn’t identify them all yet, but they are all beautiful - especially the Small Alpine Bush Cricket on the left.
This beautifully marked Wasp Spider is also amazing; apparently you do get them in the South of England, but I’ve never seen one in UK myself. The dragonfly is a Continental species as well - a Small Pincertail - not sure what the pincers on the tail are for, but this one was easy to photograph sunning itself by the riverside. Finally, with its iridescent blue wings, a not-very-healthy-looking Carpenter Bee found in the Cevennes. These exotic looking solitary bees, one of two similar-looking species found in France, make their nest cavities by boring into dead wood,
Back after holidays, but due to lack of time there’s not too much to report from the garden.
The only new species I added lately was a very impressive, but too fast to photograph, Hornet Mimic Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria, #543). I did get a nice photo of this much slower-moving female Speckled Bush Cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima, #198) ambling through the Hazel trees. Birding wise I didn’t have too much time to check, but there were some migrant Chiffchaffs in the trees, the last House Martins overhead and a Barn Owl calling around the village the a few nights this week. All rather autumnal.
#198 Speckled Bush Cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima)
Passionate about nature, based in Gloucestershire UK; this site is about creating a wildlife friendly family garden and exploring the diversity of animal & plant species that share it with us.
As a nature lover and wildlife gardener I started wondering about the biodiversity in my backyard and just how many species from plants to insects to birds to mammals might live in or visit it.
Much of the wildlife in my small, village garden has been present right under my nose for years without my really appreciating it, so on the way I am learning a lot about different species and how to make a wildlife-friendly environment for them; also getting engaged more in conservation activities around Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.
My garden species tally started from zero on June 1st 2018, the target was 1000 species, which I eventually hit in June 2024. But there’s still plenty to see and learn about.
I'm very interested in your comments & advice: whether it's about the blog, some help with identification or just how to make my own little Eden better for wildlife. So please leave a comment or drop me a line if you feel like it!
Graham Tompsett
microedenproject@gmail.com
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