On a walk this week, we spent a long time looking for the creatures that inhabit the woodland and grassland around Moira Furnace, Leicestershire.
You can always hear the grasshoppers and crickets that live in the long grass near the lime kilns. We spent ages trying to glimpse a sight of one as they are so well camouflaged. You don’t realise how calming it is focusing on a task like this until you have completed it and we left the furnace feeling at peace.
We found this beautiful specimen, a Roesel’s Bush-Cricket (Metrioptera roeselii). Whilst this species isn’t uncommon, it has only been in Leicestershire for the last 14 years. They are only visible in this form until autumn, so they won’t be visible for much longer once the weather starts getting colder.
Roesel’s Bush-Crickets are omnivores, but feed mostly on grass and other vegetation. They grow to between 1.3 and 2.6cm and it is thought that the fully winged version (form diluta) make up only 1% of the population and this make a sighting of this variant even more exiting.
So, while you’re out and about why don’t you take some time to to notice nature and see what you can find. Take some time to really look at what is around you and what we share this planet with.