NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

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 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.

It's already starting to get dark outside (12.30hrs) before the day has even had the chance to get properly light. My trawl around the slopes of Mickleham this morning was therefore conducted under a stygian gloom (I love the word stygian). The main aim of the excursion was too see a few more winter flowers, and in this I was successful, with Rustyback, Box, Stinking Hellebore, Wild Candytuft, Spurge-laurel and Butcher's-broom being the highlights. The image above shows the disturbed chalky soil that is so loved by Wild Candytuft and Stinking Hellebore (below) in particular. At about 10.35hrs I was on the western slopes of Mickleham Downs (which overlooks the village of Mickleham) when a Hawfinch flew into the top of a beech tree that was just ahead of me. A scan revealed that there were already six birds there. Over a ten minute period they flitted in, out and over the same tree before melting away. Twenty minutes later I was looking out over the same ridge from furthe...

It was here, in March 2013, that I stumbled across a large gathering of Hawfinches. At its peak the flock numbered between 110-130 birds. Birders travelled from far and wide to see them. Since then, apart from an isolated sighting, none have returned. This morning I can confirm that they still haven't... but, as always, it's a lovely place to while away some time. Across the valley, in several disturbed areas on the upper slopes of Mickleham Downs, the rare Wild Candytuft grows, at its only Surrey location. This morning I found quite a few plants in flower. In fact, even in the depths of a cold winter it is normal to find a few in bloom. Last years Bird's-nest Orchids were standing proud, if desiccated, on the slopes of Mickleham Downs under beech woodland. Up to 200 were easily found, all within 100m along the edge of a footpath. Previous forays into the wood away from the few paths on offer tends to throw this species up. There must be four figure counts on th...

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...

The past few days has seen a great deal of flower come out, so that the slopes of Park Downs were spattered with the mauve of Hairy Violet. In one or two places Barren Strawberry was in flower, along with a good patch of this Stinking Hellebore. We are quite well off for this species locally, and I can guarantee seeing it without too much effort. It cheers up the winter months no end. Even though the westerly wind was gusting force 6-7 it didn't stop a fair number of bees to venture out, along with two Brimstone butterflies. I continued on to Fames Rough where, as I was inspecting the ploughed strip (in readiness for a summer of Ground Pine and Cut-leaved Germander), a Firecrest sang from a stand of Yew. Being relatively high and exposed, Canons Farm was being blasted by the wind, but the recently raked fields held at least 340 Stock Doves, but no Wheatears...