The story so far....
David Smith has always recorded the sounds of Rainham Marshes but has recently bought a new toy... a hydrophone...
Today he lowered it into a ditch from a bridge and recorded this amazing sequence of sounds.....
We have no idea what is making these mad-long-tailed Tit sounds but whatever it was, it is aquatic!
Play this audio clip
and now we have some answers.... both Roy Woodward and Neil Phillips were quick to respond and suggest that it was quite possibly one of the numerous Water Boatman species that inhabit our ditches and that it would be rival males stridulating in the same way that grasshoppers do.... well nearly...
Check out this link for more details.... http://www.microcosmos.nl/bugs2/lbleven.htm but lets just say that whereas grasshoppers may rub their knees to make the noise, these male water beetles use other more, how shall I put this, sensitive and intimate parts of their anatomy..... happy beetles everywhere.....
Well, you learn something everyday...
18-10-14
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer