NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

 Up to three of these butterflies this afternoon at Park Downs. A little taster...

One of the pleasures of being  - or at least attempting to be - an all-round naturalist is that you tend to nose around at anything and everything as you idly wander. In doing so you can be handsomely rewarded. This afternoon I went on a 'birding stroll', (I'm still adhering to local lockdown and not driving anywhere.) I found myself at Park Downs, Banstead, a delightful place that has a fine fauna and flora. It is also peaceful, one of my bolt-holes. As I wandered down the edge of a field I noticed several plants of White Bryony starting to unfurl across the path and into the hedgerow. My eye was drawn to a distinctively coloured insect, the unmistakable browny-red of the Bryony Ladybird. And there were more, all resting on the leaves of its food plant and a quick check of the other plants by the path revealed at least 12 insects on show. There could have been many more but I didn't want to disturb them by checking underneath the leaves. This species was not recor...

After a rainy and blustery morning I'd had enough of the indoors, so, donning wet-weather gear, ventured forth and walked from home to Park Downs and back - 12,000+ steps apparently. I got soaked, with one particular downpour that may have only lasted for just ten minutes, but felt as if it had deposited a month's worth of rain in that time. And we've got Storm Dennis to look forward to! I, for one, cannot wait until Spring... If I had been hoping for a bit of birding relief then I would have been most disappointed, but I knew it would be poor, and it was. Barely a bird stirred. No flocks, little calling, I would have seen just as much had I been blindfolded and wearing ear-muffs. Still, I knew of a patch of Stinking Hellebores, and paid homage to the 120+ plants present on the chalk downland.

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...

The weather Gods decided to scatter a couple more centimetres of snow across the Banstead area last night, so this morning I left the car at home and went on a five mile circular walk (see how I, without thinking, used both metric and imperial measurements there? It's my age...) Up the hill and across the A217 onto Canons Farm, along Chipstead Bottom, skirting Banstead Woods, up onto Park Downs and through to Banstead Village and home. Birdwise generally quiet, with up to six Common Buzzard, 24 Fieldfare, a flock of 60 Linnet and three Yellowhammer. Hawfinches? I'm glad you asked! There were two in the woods directly above the Holly Lane car park. Park Downs is home to a few plants of Stinking Hellebore, which could not hide their lime-green loveliness in the snow. Two days ago they were bathed in warm sunshine.

The start of July sees a lull in the number of species of butterfly on the wing, with more than a few of them being between broods. I spent the morning/early afternoon at Park Downs, Banstead Woods and Chipstead Bottom in glorious weather, and, regardless of the 'butterfly trough', still recorded a fair few species (and in good numbers), including two White-letter Hairstreak, 2 Dark Green Fritillary and 15+ Silver-washed Fritillary. Brimstone - second brood starting to emerge Silver-washed Fritillary Ringlet - up to 100 present Dark Green Fritillary

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...

Canons Farm tested the resolve of two seasoned campaigners this morning, as Geoff and myself plodded across the arable wastes with scarcely a bird to look at. Something is amiss here. In previous winters, at the very least, the fields would hold decent numbers of pigeons, corvids, finches and thrushes. Have they been sprayed with something so foul that there is nothing left alive for the birds to feed upon? Our 'tame' Common Buzzard (above) seemed unconcerned about it all, but most probably has no food worries thanks to a supply of the bodies of birders who have keeled over with boredom. Our one flash of inspiration came in the form of a Woodcock, targeted and flushed at the edge of Banstead Woods - Geoff's 100th patch species, a good total for a waterless, inland site. We parted ways in the bowels of Chipstead Bottom (nice imagery to juggle with there) where I then wandered along and up onto Park Downs (below). If I were targeting birds here then I would hav...

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.

Columbine ( Aquilegia vulgaris ) is a native plant that I can easily find growing on the chalky soils surrounding Banstead. This morning's visit to Park Downs was improved no end by the presence of this species, mostly individuals with blue-mauve flowers, but also some showing white and a very few a pale pink. It is a common plant of gardens, the cultivated varieties exhibiting straighter spurs (apparently) and these can be found spilling out onto pavements and grass verges across the country. My downland plants are truly wild, although they do exhibit a mix of colour as described above. It is an elegant and graceful thing, all curves and swirls mounted on a thin natural fretwork. It is as if the species were the creation of the arts and crafts movement, or maybe from the drawing board of Charles Rennie Mackintosh or William Morris. It has the stamp of Victoriana all over it. The grassland was starting to smell like summer - the whiff of thyme regularly catching me off...

The sun was out and the cold northerly wind was a little less bothersome. My walk from home across Canons Farm, along Chipstead Valley and back to Banstead via Park Downs was more about looking into the future then observing the here and now. I stopped to check on the Fly Orchids at Fame's Rough and found a minimum of four rosettes (above). I'm assuming that they are indeed what I am claiming them to be, as my vegetative ID skills are not, I admit, brilliant. As I always do when finding myself on Park Downs, I visited the orchid fields. Even though we are a few months away from flowering, I cannot help but go and bathe in the wonder of what these fields produced last year - it will stay with me forever. So although the scene today was as above, before long it will look like this... And to counterbalance the title of this post, a paragraph about what has been . I'm obviously in a reflective state of mind at the moment. As is my want, yesterday afternoon I left...

What better way to forget about all this 'winter' dullness than to go looking for a few plants! Yes, even in the harshest of winters (although this isn't one) some species do their thing throughout the season. One of my favourites just happens to have a few sites close to home. Stinking Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) is a wild species, occurring on shallow calcareous soils in a snaking band running from the south-east of England, through central southern England and into mid-to-north Wales. It is found widely elsewhere, but most of these come from garden throw-outs and escapes. It is a fecund plant, setting seed and spreading with ease - I have it in my garden and find it springing up all over the place. Its appearance in the garden is a bit of a mystery - we had lived here for quite a few years and not seen it, until one popped up and spread. It is quite possible that this was a wild plant, as it is present only a mile away (on Epsom Downs). This afternoon I visite...

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 ...

After a week away, it was back to the orchid fields of Park Downs this morning. From a distance it looked as if the vegetation had been delicately washed with a giant paintbrush, the colour being so subtle - yet at the same time strikingly beautiful. The photo cannot do it justice. Up close, the flowers that were responsible for the colouring could be discerned. The pinks and purples came courtesy of Marjoram (with a little dab of Knapweed), the yellows were largely Common Ragwort (plus subtle hints from Wild Parsnip) and the splashes of white being Wild Carrot. On the slopes a combination of the sun and the increasing warmth ensured that a number of Chalkhill Blues were on the wing, together with a few Marbled Whites. Prize butterfly though was awarded to a helice form of Clouded Yellow, which flew around me for several minutes, alighting briefly before heading up high, crossing the road and onto the Holly Lane Meadow. I had some success with a couple of rare plants nearb...

Today, I didn't intend to spend any time looking at plants along the edges of fields, but ultimately I couldn't resist it. Walking along the footpath that snakes around the large field between Holly Lane East and Park Downs, at the meeting point of several footpaths, the crops had not taken, so I got down on my knees and searched the stunted flora. Sharp-leaved Fluellen was not uncommon and several plants of Small Toadflax also caught my eye. A nice start! Next up was Perrotts Farm and the field directly north of Ruffett Wood (called Pipit Meadow by the birding fraternity) which was exhibiting a bare strip at its north-western end - I needed no encouragement to check it! This too was of interest, with more Sharp-leaved Fluellen being found, but also a great deal of Dwarf Spurge (above) - this surprised me as I have not seen this species at this locality before - John Peacock will know of its historical status on the farm. I was quite close to Fames Rough and felt it wou...

Today was the first time that I felt as if it were autumn. The vegetation is starting to look tired. Red Bartsia, Harebell, Common Toadflax and Nettle-leaved Bellflower are starting to flower. 3 Chalkhill Blues were dancing over the short sward on Park Downs (where I finally recorded Knotted Pearlwort in Surrey). The orchid fields have changed - the top picture was taken this morning (with Common Ragwort and Marjoram being the predominant providers of colour) and the bottom image on 23rd June (where the yellow was courtesy of Rough Hawk's-beard). The orchids have largely gone. Other butterflies seen included several hundred Gatekeepers, a handful of left-over Marbled Whites, Dark Green Fritillary and 3 Red Admirals. Across the road in Banstead Woods at least 4 Silver-washed Fritillaries patrolled the rides and a very large dark butterfly was briefly glimpsed as it hacked through the top of some oaks - I have a strong suspicion as to what it probably was! Something that gave itself ...

My main aim this morning was to hunt down a Purple Emperor in Banstead Woods. It was a leap of faith, as none have been reported there this year, although they have been on the wing elsewhere in southern England. The Emperors of Banstead Woods are a bit of a mystery. They are clearly not in great number, hence they get little attention. The rides through this particular wood are not very open, which makes observation of the tree tops difficult, plus the hope that an observable male will drop down to hydrate on the ground is that less likely. Only a handful of sightings are made each year. I wandered the rides during the recognised hour (10.00 - 11.00hrs) when the freshly emerged males drop to the ground to indulge in a bit of proboscis pumping (at a puddle, rotting carcass or mammal excrement). Well, that is the perceived wisdom, anyway. Banstead Woods is big, so me wandering the rides with no success was hardly surprising. Highlights did include a couple of Silver-washed Fritill...

I love counting things - any thing - it doesn't have to be birds, plants, moths or butterflies. It could be books, or albums, or photographs. It is a bit of an illness really, a Tourette's of adding things up. I find myself automatically doing so when driving, having a bath, or, like this morning, out walking... 07.15hrs saw me on Park Downs and not only was it already warm, there were at least three figures of butterflies flying above the flower-rich grassland. These I had to count! A zig-zagging route was embarked upon, with care taken to not recount sections of meadow. My final tally was a bit of a shock as I'd recorded just over 1,000 Marbled Whites. They really were a sight, flitting just above the sward, some spiralling up in combat and then veering off into nearby scrub. They were skittish and didn't settle that easily. Also on the wing were Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Small Heath and 4 Dark Green Fritillary. It was barely 09.00hrs. I now had the...