NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

A new month, a new challenge. As I am still not comfortable with travelling far from home, and prefer to travel on foot, I looked at the Ordnance Survey maps last night to identify a 2km square which would act as the focus of my natural history efforts for the month of June. Our house is bang on the southern edge of TQ2261, and within this 2km square can be found Priest and Howell Hills, both SWT reserves and good for plants and butterflies, if not so much birds. Given that spring is almost over, and my attention does tend to switch away from ornithology for the summer months, this seemed like a good square to bash, particularly as the farmland close to Howell Hill has been allowed to run wild in places, and so holds the potential for some surprising plants to pop up. After a morning of painting the garden fence, I walked from home and first of all checked the farm paddocks attached to NESCOT, as a flock of Starlings has been building here - after all, a few Rose-coloured versions...

I might not live by the sea, or alongside a reservoir, or close to a major river valley, but I cannot complain about the area around my home. Within a 20-30 minute walk I can be at Epsom Downs, Epsom Common, Banstead Woods, Banstead Downs, Priest Hill, Howell Hill, Canons Farm and the banks of the (modest) River Hogsmill at Ewell. These may not be places that are associated with birds, but at these sites I have seen Little Bittern, Ring-necked Duck and Dotterel (among others) and have experienced some amazing days of migration. However, what it lacks in birding prowess is more than compensated by the tremendous list of plants, butterflies and moths that can be found - nationally notable species in profusion! No, I cannot complain. And then there are the many areas off the beaten track, in between the named sites above - pockets of farmland, grassland, copses and horse paddock, criss-crossed by footpath and, at times, abandoned to the wild flowers and accompanying invertebrates. Bo...

There has been some mumbling in the ranks that this blog has, so far this year, neglected birds. So today's post will start off with ornithological news - after all, I aim to please. A couple of hours spent at Howell Hill SWT reserve rustled up a flushed Woodcock (from roughly where the Knapweed Broomrapes will pop up later in the year) plus a feeding frenzy in the large open fields that comprised 1,000 Woodpigeons, 150 Stock Doves and 100 Jackdaws. Now, back to the plants... My main aim at Howell Hill was to record some of the cotoneasters that are present. The reserve has quite a list of them and I am but a rank amateur when it comes to identifying them, but with the help of a number of reference books I'm fairly confident that I found Wall ( horizontalis ), Tree ( frigidus ) and Himalayan ( simonisii ), along with Firethorn ( Pyracantha coccinea ). But it was the neighbouring fields that got me excited (image above). These appear to have been abandoned and even for ea...

... a bit harsh really, but that is what it feels like. A day out in the field thwarted by wind, headache and homosexuals. Beddington Sewage Farm I put in a three hour shift conducting my grandly advertised 'plant survey'. I've divided the farm up into unscientific chunks and am recording every species within 'said' chunk. OK, when I say every species I am bending the truth a little. I do the grasses when I'm in the mood, I'm not checking every one of the ubiquitos yellow-flowered Melilots down to species, and I am getting fed up with the yellow crucifers. The ground was dry, the vegetation looks like it has been through a hot summer and I started to get a headache. At the end of the year I should have a tidy list that will be available to the LNHS survey, BFBG members and anybody else who is interested. Howell Hill, Ewell A lovely little chalk grassland reserve, good for orchids, Knapweed Broomrape and several exotic cotoneasters and firethorns. Heada...