Wildlife Spotting

Thanks a lot, Martin, that makes a good starting point for research.

Scott, there were three or four more of these around, looking exactly the same, so it is not a random shape. I mean, it is not like a damaged specimen. At first I thought it could be a treehopper's egg mass, but the filaments made me think of scale insects - although, as you say, they look odd. I'll check later to see if there was any development.