On Apr 2, 8:23*pm, David in Normandy wrote:
Sacha wrote:
Slow worms, grass snakes, frogs, some other kind of grass hopper? *Ground
nesting bird? *Borer bees/wasps?

Thanks for the replies everyone. This little mystery looks like it will
remain unsolved for the moment as there are so many candidates for the
noise. I'll see if I can find the sound of each creature suggested on
the web. I think the sound may be some sort of mating call or territory
thing as two of them were taking it in turns to make the sound, one each
side of me. They seem to like the hot sunny weather we've been having here.

--

Most grasshoppers and many outdoor crickets (e.g. bush crickets) make
noises of one kind or another. This is to attract mates and/or tell
others to bugger off. These noises range from the loud continuous
brrrrrrrrrrrr kind to very soft intermittent ones. There are tons of
species of both in France so I have no idea where to begin to find out
out which species except by catching one. They do have a habit of
freezing if you come too close and tend to be well camouflaged.
Having a territorial/mating song is a mixed blessing; it leaves you
vulnerable to predators finding you so they tend to hide if you get
too close. You just have to decide to devote a solid hour some day
and get your reading glasses out and lie on your face as near as
possible to where the noise is coming from and stalk one. OR (less
practical advice this I realise :-), get a big beating net from an
entomological suppliers and bash the vegetation and see what you can
get. Grashoppers look like tiny locusts; bush crickets are long
legged things that are often bright green and may have a long tail.
Google images of both to see.
e.g.
http://pbc.codehog.co.uk/bhs/pics/20...l06_800_20.jpg
http://www.insectopia.co.uk/Grasshop...rasshopper.jpg
Here are some sounds
http://www.naturesongs.com/cricket1.wav
Des