Most grasshoppers prefer short grass where the sun can warm up the soil, giving the right conditions for egg development. The lush grass of the meadow supports only one species, the Lesser Marsh Grasshopper, which tolerates these conditions and was first found in Nottinghamshire just a few years ago. Also present are Slender Groundhoppers, which look like tiny grasshoppers but have the pronotum (the shield on the thorax) extending to the tip of the abdomen. No bush-crickets have yet been found.

What I think is Male Fern, the first ever fern recorded from the meadow, has emerged from the area cleared of bramble last winter to create the waterside path; the semi-shade is obviously to its liking. There were dozens of Greater Burnet Saxifrage plants in flower – far more than usual I think, but no sign of Creeping Jenny which normally flowers along the dwindling margins of Penny Pond, and which this year has remained full to the brim.