Interesting walk yesterday, just local – to Spring Wood from home, and back.

For those not familiar with Spring Wood it’s a small woodland about a mile from Cossall and Awsworth, at about SK 498 428. Its mixed woodland, and good for Fungi and Birds – though remember to stick to the footpath.

My 2 year old son got a bug viewer for his birthday (not from me I’d like to add!) and so Daddy purloined for his walk. I was able to grab decent views of Grasshopper with it, collecting them in the cup before using the 4x magnification to get a decent look.

Orthoptera really aren’t my strong point, but I think both photos are Meadow Grasshoppers. There’s a good guide to identification here and it seems the keel (the lines along the head) are the key to identification. The song is also a clue, bu that depends if you can hear it – I’m lucky enough to hear them, but I know others that can’t.

Butterflies are still around, but with the Skippers and Gatekeepers gone then they were mainly whites and Speckled Wood – with a few Common Blue along the way too.  Further along the walk I did see a rather strange looking insect – it flew out the grass and into a tree and I couldn’t locate it except for a quick snap. It then flew away not to be refound. It was a light green clear-winged moth/butterfly (I’m assuming moth) but I can’t id it. You can just see it in the picture below (look for the light green thing with antennae) – but its very unclear.

Birdlife was thin on the ground, but a pair of Yellowhammer brightened up the day. I also found evidence of a bird of prey on the hay bales near to Spring Wood – there was a half eaten vole and a couple of pellets on them.

The first pellet was small (20mm) and sandy and gritty, with a few ears of corn. It was yellow in appearance. The second was much bigger, 50mm maybe, and a reddy black colour. It contained fur, grit and corn ears and I did find the upper and lower mandible of a small mammal and also what I assume was a femur. Quite an exciting prod around – its a shame I couldn’t have brought it home to spend more time photographing the contents but I had no container for it (though the wife wouldn’t have been happy).

From a bit of research I think its probably a barn owl pellet, but I’ll have to consult an expert (fortunately I know just the man).