Our second trip to Forge Valley, or more specifically, the Forge Valley Woodland trail. The main aim of the trip was to catch a White-clawed Crayfish. Armed with the knowledge of a fisherman, we set out for Tesco, to buy some value bacon to use as bait.

The idea was to tie the bacon around the net and leave the net in the water. A greedy crayfish walks in and snacks on the bacon, and we catch it! That was the plan.

Firstly, I'd like to show you all some more insects!

Here is a Green Lacewing, a really stunning fly...

A male scorpion fly. These are the ones with the curved tail, hence the name. This one wouldn't behave though, and I couldn't get a side on picture, so you'll have to trust me on this one!

A Green Nettle Weevil...

A froghopper, very striking!

This Cardinal Beetle is absolutely stunning...

The caterpillar stage of a Peacock butterfly...

They were pretty localised!

Harvestmans spider

Two more spiders, both with very different web designs...

Now for the crayfish! It went pretty well, with the bacon filled net catching five of the seven  crayfish caught in total. Here are the pictures! (you'll notice they don't actually have white claws, but after plenty of research, we are 100% sure these are white-clawed crayfish. For some reason the species does not have white-claws

Here are six of the seven crayfish we caught! Bad quality, but the best I could do

All the crayfish were caught at this small site...

Finally, here are two very different videos. The first is a short video of a mayfly being snatched off the surface of the water by a brown trout...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3LqGvBZPAs

and secondly, here is a crayfish video, set to some appropriate music. They do walk quite funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42TZ7PgcK5Y

Thanks for viewing and watching!

Steve

Another top quality thread! Plenty of colour and variety in here, good shots Steve. How on earth do you know all the names of these bugs, and probably more to the point, how do you actually find them?!

Excellent stuff again Steve, those videos were great too

Ian D J:

Another top quality thread! Plenty of colour and variety in here, good shots Steve. How on earth do you know all the names of these bugs, and probably more to the point, how do you actually find them?!

To be honest Ian, the diversity really surprises me everytime. It really is amazing when you just have a closer look and rustle a few leaves As for identifying them, a good resource such as the internet or a Collins book, plus a little background knowledge is all you need

Thanks for the comm's as ever Ian and Bev

Another excellent selection Steve, as others have said your threads are very informative.

Great stuff as ever Steve, the lacewing is a really pretty insect Have you ever seen or caught any of those dastardly American crayfish?

Another excellent wildlife tutorial

Rob S:

Great stuff as ever Steve, the lacewing is a really pretty insect Have you ever seen or caught any of those dastardly American crayfish?

Thankfully the reason why the White-Clawed Crayfish are so locally abundant here is because the Signal (USA) Crayfish are not present here yet. This is in stark contrast to many other areas of the UK, where the Yankee Crayfish is the dominant species

Superb thread Steve - great pics and vids I am fond of Lacewings - a very pretty and useful insect for the garden, we often have them overwintering in the house

Great photos and info again Steve.

Great photos! I have tried hunting for crayfish but with no luck so far.

I have some photos of some really strange insects that i might have to get you to identify if you have the time.......when i finally upload them

Jamie R:

Great photos! I have tried hunting for crayfish but with no luck so far.

I have some photos of some really strange insects that i might have to get you to identify if you have the time.......when i finally upload them

Thanks I have plenty of time on my hands this week, so upload them anytime and I'd be happy to identify them