NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

This is the first in an occasional series of posts that will visit some of the least travelled footpaths that are out there and waiting to be explored. Many of them will have no obvious merit to the naturalist, but, with a lit bit of time being spent along them, all will open up and reveal their treasure! So, as a starter, let us walk along Freedown Lane in Banstead... The Freedown is an area of Banstead Downs that was selected by a group of worthy late-Victorians to build, what they called, a lunatic asylum. Banstead Mental Hospital closed in the late 20th century, with the land being sold to the Home Office. Two high security prisons were then constructed on site - incarceration of a different kind. Freedown Lane (FL) is accessed from the B2218 that runs from Banstead to Belmont. FL is a narrow road that soon becomes an unmade track, the very few houses that are present sharing their space with horse paddocks. If arriving by car, it is best not to park along the lane, with the closes...

My 'birding spring' seems to have already morphed into an 'insect summer'. I can't say I'm too bothered about it as the local birding has not been all that productive over the past few weeks (for me, anyway). Avian highlights this week have been a migrating Hobby along the scarp at Colley Hill (watched it arrive from a mile-away, dead straight line, east to west) and a singing Firecrest on Banstead Downs, where I have only seen wintering birds in the past. The image above may not appear to have any wildlife merit, yet it is here that both Striped Shieldbug and the giant weevil Lixus iridis is to be found here. I have failed to locate the former so far in 2021, but the latter are easy to find, double-figure counts achievable without the need of sweeping or beating the vegetation. A good selection of inverts are also present, and really bolster this flagging birder's mind. A few highlights below. I have found in the past that when I switch off from the birds t...