A few days ago we were very puzzled by the silence of the downs. A day and a down which should have been crawling with grasshoppers. Which it may have been but if it was they were completely silent, which seemed a bit odd. Surely they are not advanced enough to need siestas?
But yesterday the world righted itself and we were able to hear grasshoppers, at two similar, though different, locations. We even got to see one small one, maybe an inch long, excluding nasal antennae.
Then the righting was marred by spotting another odd noise, rather like an occasional drip. We were standing underneath an oak tree and the first thought was that something sticky was oozing out of aphids on the oak leaves and dripping to ground. One certainly sees cars in towns covered in all sorts of stuff when parked underneath the trees in squares and such like. But thought refuted by the odd noise, on closer inspection, not being confined to the tree. Second thought was that it was some sort of small male beetle clicking its wings to attract a mate. Sadly, unable to confirm or refute in the time available.
And then last night, happening to wake around 0300 for some reason (the nearby church bell conveniently telling me the time), heard some more clicking from the back garden. A group of clicks, then silence, then another group and so on. First thought was that it was a blind bat clicking its way around the garden in its search for spiders for supper. No seconds thoughts on this occasion as I fell asleep again before I could muster the energy to peer out of the window.
Second thoughts later. Maybe it was the solar panels on the roof of the other half of the bungalow creaking around as the temperature changed during the night.
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