Field Crickets at Farnham Heath, Tilford (RSPB Reserve)

Leader: Mark Crisp (Warden)

10 members traversed the south part of Tankersford Common, approaching from Pierrepont Farm. The Common is part of RSPB’s Farnham Heath reserve, and is the site of their successful re-introduction programme of the Field Cricket (Gryllus campestris). When the group arrived at the site at about 11.00am, the weather was breezy, cloudy and cool, and no crickets could be heard. We did, however, have good sight and sound of Woodlark and Stonechat. Soon enough, the sun emerged and the sound of crickets increased in volume with the temperature. The crickets normally remain at the entrance to their burrows and are difficult to see, but the sound at its maximum was impressive.

The group also found a good set of species of Cladonia lichens on the old pine stumps, including the red-tipped C. floerkeana; the ant-mimicking mirid bug Pithanus maerkelii (which doesn’t appear to have been recorded in the area before); and both the Beautiful and Banded Demoiselles where the footbridge crosses the Wey.