NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

One of the perks of birding/watching is coming across a rare species. It is, by definition, a rare event. You can never predict it. You can help narrow down the chances of it happening to you by picking your birding arena carefully, and targeting the spring and autumn during helpful weather conditions. But even then you are not guaranteed anything. I'm not one of those birders who has regularly found rarities. When I was particularly active in the late 70s and 1980s I reckoned on getting between one-three mentions in the BB rarities round-up (and 90% of these would have been 'commoner' rarities). Since then my appearance in that publication has been as regular as Lord Lucan's (before anybody points it out, I am aware that you actually need to go out birding to find something in the first place). I was always interested in the type of birder who got the goodies - they were not always the ones that you would expect. It would be a fair assumption to make that a highly ...

Stewart Sexton's recent rant on the practice of splitting moths into micros and macros has got me thinking (not a bad thing, I know). Splitting them is something that I am guilty of. Stewart is quite right in pointing out that there is no sense behind doing so - they are all moths! It is comparable to splitting a list of birds into passerines and non-passerines.In fact, if we are to be pedantic, a pure list of lepidoptera includes butterflies in the order, being placed between micro moths and macro moths in the systematic list (with a few macro moths appearing before the micros to prove what a debacle the micro/macro split really is). From my own experience, this division really started when I first took an interest in moths. Apart from The Observer's Book of Moths, the first identification guides I possessed were the two volumes of South's which I obtained in 1981. There were no micros illustrated. Therefore I was not in the best position to tackle them, so ignored t...

The top of Reigate Heath. In the distance is the North Downs. Beyond the gorse in the foreground is a slope that is full of Climbing Corydalis and I was surprised to find some flowering this morning. I collected some moss from the sandy heathland and will try to ID them at my leisure. About half-a-mile from this spot is the cricket/football pitch that boasts a fine flora in the summer months (including Annual Knawel). Today, 22 footballers and a referee where running all over them - maybe this is exactly what the plants need, roughing up and disturbance, and they certainly seem to like it. Maybe Plantlife could budget for putting on a game of football at a few of their reserves to help certain threatened species. A beautiful day, apart from what went on at the Emirates stadium...

The MV sprang into micro life last night with four micro species (pictured) being recorded. They are, from the top, Argonopterix heracliana, Acleris ferrugana/notana, Ypsolopha ustella and  Tortricodes alternella. Also present was a single Chestnut and two Hebrew Characters. It was great wandering around the trap in a t-shirt, chasing little-flying-things instead of looking at empty, cold air. Spring really seems to have arrived, but I've been here before. We could be knee-deep in snow within a fortnight... If there are any visitors to this blog who are thinking of getting involved in recording moths then I can recommend visiting any of the county moth groups web sites that have been set up to help them on their way. Many of them exhibit a 'what's flying tonight' page that lists species that are likely to be seen at that given time. I've found the Hants Moths site really useful in that respect for micros. It saves an awful lot of time if you can review the ...

The MV trap didn't produce the egg-cartons full that I hoped for, but never the less, three species were recorded, including an out-and-out lifer. Before you start wondering if I've jammed in on a Levant Blackneck, let me remind you that I'm looking at micros this year, and there are many, many common species that I've yet to record - so that is why Agonopterix heracliana is new. Also last night were Tortricodes alternella and Hebrew Character. 2012 GARDEN MOTH SPECIES TOTAL: 5 (Macro: 2 Micro: 3)

Sarah Raven's excellent TV series, 'Bees, butterflies and blooms' finished last night with her attempts to turn Birmingham into a city that boasted wildflower meadows within its concrete heart. She and the Brummie councellors succeded to a point. The cameras also visited Leeds and Liverpool where some simply stunning transformations had taken place. Sterile grass banks and prim and proper flower beds had been turned into billowing masses of Corn Marigolds, Cornflowers, vervains and a host of other flowers that encourage pollinating insects to subsequently proliferate. The series has made me think about how we treat our modest garden here in Banstead. We are on chalk and the opportunities are many to encourage the sort of plant species that insects love. I posted about a similar scheme in Cheam Park last June (click here).  I'm looking forward to donning the gardening gloves, searching out the trowel and attacking our chalky soil in the very near future. I'll keep y...

This post is nothing but a round-up of the bits and pieces that are currently in orbit within my head at the moment. So expect the cerebral equivalent of 'carpet sweepings'... Micro-moth field guide . The latest issue of British Wildlife lets slip that 'The Field Guide to the Micro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland' is coming soon! No publication date as yet, but the wording suggests that it will be soon. The team behind it includes Phil Sterling, Mark Parsons and Richard Lewington. Can't wait! Pan-species. At the start of the year I swore that I would leave mosses alone. I've been out in the field a few times and have come across luxurious banks of mosses that look so, so inviting. I'm weakening. I actually want to start on them in earnest. I've got the field guide. I've got a hand lens. I've got small plastic bages to collect them in. Watch this space. Other blogs. I'm going through a bout of blog envy at the moment. It seems to ...