British grasshoppers

Robyn and I went for a quick trip to the Wildfowl and wetlands centre at Arundel today, and whilst I took some OK shots, most were not very interesting.
On the way back I stopped at the Bury Hill car park and went looking for these Rufous grasshoppers.
The Rufous grasshopper Gomphocerippus rufus, is a medium sized grasshopper with the females reaching up to 22mm in length.
It is found between July and December, in dry or slightly moist habitats, typically dry grassland on calcareous soils.
It is usually coloured with shades of brown, with some yellow and red, with an orange tipped abdomen. Unusually the antennae are clubbed, tipped with white. Both sexes are winged, and can fly well.
It is described as 'Rather local and restricted to chalk and limestone grassland' in S England and S Wales. This particular colony is thriving, and it is lovely to stand and listen to the distinctive 'chirrip' sound.
Over the next week I will try to find more interesting grasshoppers to blip.

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