NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

In the spring of 1999 I was walking westwards along the North Downs Way at the base of the scarp slope, just past Juniper Hill. In the distance I could see a patch of vivid inky-blue which I assumed would be a grounded helium balloon or, less exotically, a plastic bag. As I got closer this colouration revealed itself to be a small group of large gentian flowers. They did not match anything in my botanical field guide so I took some photos and carried on walking, perplexed as to what these gentians could be. Later in the day I was able to refer to some literature - and it was Stace's second edition of his 'New Flora of the British Isles' that solved the puzzle - they were revealed as being Gentiana clusii (Trumpet Gentian)*, planted and naturalised along that very same section of the Surrey North Downs since 1960. Since then I have, on a number of occasions, revisited this clump of gentians, plus another patch (some half-a-mile further west and higher up the scarp slope) - e...

Any wander with a camera results in plenty of pictures being taken - those old enough to remember the days of film will recall how careful we were when taking a photograph, as each attempt was using up a precious exposure on the roll. Now, we can snap away without such fear - hence lots of images can go missing, get forgotten or languish in a folder on a computer's desktop. Here are four I've rescued from the past week... Great Spotted Woodpecker at Canons Farm  Young Robin in the back garden after having taken a bath in the pond Green Hairstreak along Chipstead Bottom, one of several seen Fly Orchids, Chipstead Bottom, more spikes starting to flower

... almost literally. Both from this morning, and both from Chipstead Bottom - Green Hairstreak (top) and Fly Orchid (bottom).

I have to admit to 'ticking' a terribly common micro-moth today, one that swarms on gorse and of which I most probably saw three figures worth this morning - Cydia ulicetana . I can almost feel the mocking looks coming my way from fellow lepidopterists and pan-listers who find it hard to believe that someone - such as me - who pretends to have at least half a finger on the pulse of our wildlife can have got so far in this game without knowingly having clapped eyes on something so hideously common. I saw it on Banstead Downs by the way... Later in the afternoon I joined David Campbell for a most agreeable wander over Canons Farm, Banstead Woods and Fames Rough. The birding was hard work, but we did see Dingy Skipper and Green Hairstreak at Fames Rough. Green Hairstreak, on Wild Strawberry at Fames Rough Cydia ulicetana - shame on you Gale... Gorse Shieldbug - dig the red antennae!