This last week we have seen many grasshoppers, most easily seen by the South door of the visitor centre on the paving and board walk.

This one was on the wall of the building. After looking on the National Biodiversity Network Gateway web-site which shows only a couple of species recorded in this hectad (a square of 10x10 kilometers) I think it is the Field Grasshopper, Chorthippus brunneus , but I stand to be corrected.

And while putting the finishing touches to the fencing at Cowpen Marsh (see the previous blog by Josh) I heard a distinctive call and we saw a Whimbrel fly over us heading South. This is not a bird that we usually get good views of except if we take a winter holiday in warmer countries where they can be seen on beaches frequented by tourists in most unlikely places. Or if we visit their northern breeding sites.

Peter