NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

The countdown continues of my 10 most memorable natural events of the past five years. 4. Banstead in bloom In the summer of 2015, something special happened within a 15-30 minute walk of my home. The chalk downland to the north and west of Banstead erupted in flower. Millions upon millions - no, make that billions - of plants unfurled their glory, painting the meadows with broad washes of colour. The image above was taken in early August, at Park Downs. Most of the colour that you can see was due to the flowers of Marjoram, Common Ragwort and Wild Carrot. A few weeks previously, this same field had hosted an orchid extravaganza, with 6,250 Pyramidal and 354 Bee (below) being counted on June 25th. Some of the Bee Orchids were enormous and exhibited many flower-heads. Five days later I carried on along the valley and entered Chipstead Bottom, estimating a further 3,500 Pyramidals - all this in the company of at least 2,270 Meadow Brown and 1,760 Marbled Whites. The latter spec...

I like counting things - birds, plants, moths, butterflies, it doesn't matter. I'll even count my books, CDs, fingers and toes if there is nothing else on offer. So when confronted with a fine show of Man Orchids on one of the lower slopes of Box Hill this morning, I started counting... a minimum of 350 spikes was the not to shabby total. I was also pleased to find my earliest ever Meadow Brown. Afterwards a quick visit was made to the eastern-end of Denbigh's Hillside where I was able to count more stuff - Adonis Blues - with at least 45 being present, but only a small part of the slope was searched. Quite a few were resting on bare ground, but a stiff breeze made photography a little challenging. Only a couple of Bee Orchids (bottom) were found.

The garden MV has not been switched on for several weeks, the longest period of idleness for many a year. Last night, at dusk, and not without a touch of ceremony, the bulb was lit and I wandered up to the trap to make sure that all was well. OUCH! I looked down at my foot to see the bee that had stung me - it looked like a Buff-tailed to me. This morning I peered in the trap to see a fair number of moths, at least 20+ bees and also the beast that is pictured above - a male Stag Beetle. I have only seen a single female in 30 years of living here, but used to come across them regularly in Cheam Village when I resided there. I understand that they are still doing well there this summer. As for the bee numbers, I now notice a hole in the ground close to a Lawson's Cypress stump that is being used by them, just inches away from the MV. The trap will need to be re-sited... This afternoon, elder daughter Rebecca and I visited Park Downs - (it was a choice between that or Bluewa...

I was delighted to welcome a car-load of Dungeness naturalists to the Box Hill area today, as Dave Walker, Gill Hollamby and Owen Leyshon made the trip north to sample some of the delights to be found on the chalk. We started off by visiting the Wild Candytuft (below) that can be found on the slopes of Mickleham Downs. Although numbers seem to have dropped off recently, several robust specimens where found in fine flower. A few Stinking Hellebores were nearby. After parking at the top of Box Hill, we slowly walked eastwards along the ridge as far as Brockham, where we paid our respects to the large colony of Green Hound's-tongue, mostly over, although several were still exhibiting some flower. We retraced our steps, zig-zagging across the open chalk downland, finding Man Orchid, Bee Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid, Chalk Fragrant Orchid, Common Twayblades, Pyramidal Orchid and, under beech woodland, Bird's-nest Orchid. The orchid numbers were not as high as previous yea...

February 1st. A chilly, grey and drizzly day outside. My SAD (seasonal affective disorder) credentials are kicking in - depressed, lethargic, overeating, irritable, feeling down and unsociable. The NHS website tries to be helpful and suggests these 10 steps to redemption: Keep Active, Get Outside, Keep Warm, Eat Healthily, See The Light, Take Up A New Hobby, See Friends and Family, Talk It Through, Join a Support Group, Seek Help... some of these do seem a bit drastic. I'm just fed up with the lack of daylight and the weather, I'm not living in Aleppo! I am following most of these suggestions already (if eating an apple directly after finishing a packet of biscuits counts as eating healthily that is). No, winter cannot hurry up enough and turn into spring as far as I'm concerned. Winter does, admittedly, have its own charm and it would take an emotionally bankrupt individual to not take joy from a heavy frost, Redwings and Fieldfares, er... Redwings and Fieldfares... did ...

Rather than prolong the countdown any further, please accept my botanical top three in one dollop... 3. Grass Vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia) I've already gone all "I wandered lonely as a cloud" over this species, and if you want to relive my moment of appreciation, please click here . 2. Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus) Another species that can be classed as one created by the 'Arts and Crafts Movement' - a botanical candelabra that shines out from its watery surroundings. I see it irregularly enough for it to always excite me when I do come across it. Looks far better in real life than it does in print (or on the screen your looking at now). 1. Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) I never, ever tire of coming across this species. Last week, when I was walking along Denbigh's Hillside I met another naturalist who had seen a few Bee Orchids at the bottom of the slope. I had to go down and have a look - even though I was standing not 25m ...

A very brief wander through the Park Downs 'orchid meadows' revealed three Bee Orchids - last year there were several hundred, so I'm hoping that there are plenty more to come. It was only a few days ago that I posted about the Grass Vetchling at this site, so it was with some surprise to see that the amount in flower had increased greatly. There are tens of thousands on show at the moment, more than I've seen at any time, anywhere. Another great memory for the botanical mind library.

Sometimes the natural world decides to take you by surprise and bestow memorable moments when you least expect them. The setting doesn't have to be on the top of a Scottish mountain or at the mouth of a powerful estuary -  it could take place at a humble piece of chalk grassland only minutes from home... Park Downs is but a twenty minute brisk walk from my front door. Until this year I have spent little time there, but have been aware of its reputation as a reserve that holds a number of notable species. After visiting the place back in March to pay my respects to the present Stinking Hellebore, I made a mental note to return in the summer. I did so in late June. I came across two fields in particular that blew me away. They were packed with flower, including incredible numbers of orchids. A careful count suggested 6250 Pyramidal and 354 Bee (both below). But these were just a small part of the mass blossoming that had taken place. From a distance the fields looked as if an ...

The two 'orchid fields' at the northern end of Park Downs have really got to me. I have spent much of the last 36 hours wondering just how many orchids there actually are. After Tuesday's visit I put the Pyramidal Orchid figure at c3,000 and the Bee Orchid total at 100+. This morning I went back and counted them... One person, even if they methodically criss-cross the two moderately-sized fields, is not going to come up with anything other than an approximation of the number of plants on show, but I can confidently claim that there are certainly no fewer than 6,250 Pyramidal and 354 spikes of Bee Orchid. Most of the former species are towards the top and middle of the fields and those of the latter at the base of the slope. In one small area (maybe 20m x 5m) I counted 114 Bee Orchids alone. I didn't stop to look at much else, although was pleased to come across quite a bit of Smooth Tare, and butterfly numbers had picked up, mainly Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites. ...

I was going to write a rambling account of the sheer joy of walking through an area of chalk downland where over 100 spikes of Bee Orchid and several thousand Pyramidal Orchids were on show. I thought the images would say far more than I could... Park Downs is just south-east of Banstead and well worth a visit. At the moment there is a spectacular botanical display that should not be missed. Apart from the orchids, I have never seen so much Dropwort in one place. Stunning.