Rather fortuitously the campsite that we were staying at in Newquay had a nature walk that ran past a couple of small landscaped ponds and across a large meadow. Normally these sorts of nature walks translate into somewhere for dog owners to walk their pets without fear of needing to clear up after them, and unfortunately this one was no different. What was different however was the presence of lots of wildlife. Apart from many of the bird species mentioned in the previous post there were also several types of butterfly feeding on what remained of various flowering plants. Butterflies are not really my strong point when it comes to identification or taking photos of them, but with a bit of luck I was able to capture three different species within an area of only a couple of square meters. Not photographed but also seen were Common Blue and Small White.

22284 - Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly
Small Tortoiseshell
22280 - Red Admiral Butterfly
Red Admiral
22281 - Peacock Butterfly
Peacock

Butterflies were not the only other type of wildlife on offer at the campsite as we found out throughout our stay. As darkness fell we were literally inundated with Rabbits as they emerged from the hedgerows and on more than one occasion we lost food to some unknown intruder. Things got even better when we took the tents down to find a large frog nestled under the groundsheet before an enormous Cricket gave me the fright of my life. I have never seen a Cricket in the UK before but quickly realised that this was something different. Apart from the long antennae that set it apart from normal grasshoppers this individual had a bright yellow underneath! It seemed rather dazed by events which meant that I could get a couple of pictures before it hopped off for freedom. A quick bit of internet research had it identified as a Dark Bush Cricket.

22314 - Dark Bush Cricket
22313 - Dark Bush Cricket

It’s a bit worrying to think that I had been sharing my sleeping area for the past week with these creatures but I imagine that they were more concerned at my presence than I was at theirs.


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