In article ,
says...
While working in the garden over the last few days I've heard a sound
I've never heard before. It sounds like a cross between dry leaves
rustling and the tail of a rattle snake shaking - but a lot fainter
sound than such a snake. Not that there are any rattle snakes here in
Northern France! Any ideas what it is?

The sound is audible from around 20 feet away from whatever it is. The
sound lasts barely a second or two and is repeated at approximately 30
second to minute intervals. On following the sound to its origin it
stops. There is not sign of an animal so it must be an insect in the
grass. I have very sharp hearing and the sound is nothing like the
crickets we get here.

Any ideas what it is?


Leaf cutter bees, the sound I always think a little like a short burst
from a tiny sewing machine
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea