Conservation success as rare field crickets flourish at Pierrepont Farm

If you walk around Pierrepont Farm, you might just hear the wonderful chirp-chirp-chirp sound of field crickets in the early evenings from our footpaths. 

They are incredibly scarce nationally but recently, we have heard a number of them calling on the farm, more than last year and over a large area. 

To see them further expanding across Pierrepont is wonderful news and they are clearly benefitting under our tenant Kayleigh’s management as they require a mix of short and long grass. 

Helena Darragh, the CRT’s Head of Conservation, said: “Field crickets are very scarce and can’t be handled without a licence. 

“They are wonderful to hear and will be coming over to Pierrepont from the RSPB heath next door, Farnham Heath, where they were released in 2010.” 

Field crickets are among the rarest and most threatened invertebrates in the UK. They are 2cm long and chunky, black or brown with striking yellow wing-bases. They can’t fly butcan walk up to 100 metres a day.  

The males are known for their singing, using specially adapted veins on their wings to produce loud calls throughout summer to attract a mate. The best time to listen out is from late April through to late June.

Field Crickets are restricted to sandy heaths in Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex. In 1991 their numbers dropped to fewer than 100, confined to just one remaining site, due to loss of precious heathland sites through forestry and land-use changes.  

To tackle this decline, after concerted effort to restore heathlands by removing plantations and reverting arable land, Natural England’s (then English Nature) Species Recovery Programme funded a series of reintroductions across sites in the southeast over many years. 

The RSPB translocated Field Crickets to an area of restored heathland at RSPB Farnham Heath in 2010. This was successful and a population of more than 300 individuals was established in just nine years. 

The CRT is part of the Heathland Connections project, which aims to enhance, restore, and connect heathland areas, creating a network of wildlife-rich sites that preserves the distinctive character and productive landscape of Surrey. We are working on this project at both Green Farm and Pierrepont Farm.  

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