Archive - Nov 6, 2004

Had a walk on Hampstead Heath in North London last weekend. Things were very autumnal although it was a wonderful morning with blue sky and some interesting cloud formations. The Heath was very busy and there wasn't much bird life to be seen.

We found a couple of unhappy looking insects that didn't appreciate the cold. Firstly (below left) a bush cricket that had its tail between its legs!! It did after a while start walking along but it seemed very sluggish. I believe it is an Oak Bush-Cricket (Meconema thallasinium) and true to its name it was found beneath an oak tree. You can hear the calls of bush crickets on this site about Cornwall.The second insect was a caterpillar I have not yet identified but again it seemed half frozen.

A new section has been added to the UK Nature pages. It is a nature diary - a record of wildlife encounters throughout the year. If you are able to identify any of the species photographed please post the IDs in the comments link below. Read the nature diary here.