NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Any regular visitor to this blog will be familiar with the soul-searching, lack of confidence and uncertainty that clouds my relationship with birding. If push comes to shove, in my personal relationship with natural history, I am foremost a birdwatcher / birder / ornithologist (tick box as appropriate). I do not suffer such angst with plants, lepidoptera or the wide open book that is pan-listing. Why is that? Part of the reason is youth. I began my love of birdwatching when I was in my mid-teens. It was a refuge from an uncertain world and one in which I seemed to fit in. My need to be accepted into this new found refuge was strong, so effort was made to be (a) competent and (b) known. My anonymity in 2015 covers up a successful campaign in the late 70s which saw me achieve this state of being. But that was just the start of the battle. Birding boomed around this time, becoming more popular, particularly in the twitching / identification arena, the place that I wanted to be. You h...

I have to admit that, after a late winter and early spring spent stomping the local patches, I was a little deflated. My efforts had resulted in scant reward and I fled to my adopted shingle kingdom on the SE Kent coast which saw me alright with a couple of beautiful White-winged Black Terns and a self-found adult Bonaparte's Gull (not to forget 25 Hobbys in the air together plus the normal breeding specialties). But it is as if the local patch knew of my dissatisfaction and decided to make it better this summer... The weather has been very hit and miss here in Surrey - a long warm spell (indeed one very hot spell) punctuated by dull periods but not much rain. This has resulted in a good butterfly summer plus a spectacular flowering. I can honestly say that there have been natural history moments spent, not three miles from my home, which will long live in that 'greatest hits' memory bank stored in my head: The mass emergence of Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns that shi...

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...

What a marvellous read. If you buy but one natural history book this year you should invest in this 450 plus paged treasure. Matthew Oates has spent the past 50 years of his life in love with butterflies and has forged a career out of studying, counting and being enthralled by them. The book is autobiographical, but it is much, much more than a 'been there, saw that' memoirs. Each page is packed not only with anecdote, but also with information - information that is anything but dry. I have learnt so much about butterflies from reading this that when I now go out into the field I am looking at them in a very different way. No longer are they just colourful and fleetingly glimpsed insects to be identified and committed to the notebook - thanks to Mr Oates I have a flicker of understanding about what they are up to and why. In his 50 years study his research has unlocked secrets of their life-cycles that had remained unknown. He certainly has his favourites, none more so th...

Sorry, more arable plant stuff, I promise to get back to birding soon! Anyway, I returned to Langley Vale this morning, to take a closer look at the Field Gromwell and, blow me, found up to 30 additional plants along the 30m bare strip, with about half of them in flower (above, left). I sent this new information off to some local Surrey botanists that I am in contact with, and Dennis and Rosy immediately went to take a look - they then carried further along the edge of the field and found hundreds more! Plus, in the original chalky corner (where I had seen a single Venus's-looking-glass), they added another 13 plants of that species for good measure. Just shows you what my single pair of eyes had missed... I also visited the Narrow-fruited Cornsalad and Catmint field which is always a pleasure, with the latter species in good flower (above right). I couldn't resist crushing a leaf or two to get a feline hit! Apparently, these Field Gromwells are the first records for S...

Langley Vale Farm, that nestles close to Epsom Downs race course, is a botanical jewel. Unfortunately, it might just become a former botanical jewel. Up until a couple of years ago all of the field margins were ploughed and game cover strips were maintained for pheasant shooting. These margins played host to a wonderful selection of arable plants, a disappearing group of flowers that cannot survive with the application of modern agricultural methods. My personal list of species recorded here is wonderful: Field Gromwell, Venus's-looking-glass, Night-flowering Catchfly (left, photographed there in 2006), Sharp-leaved Fluellen, Round-leaved Fluellen, Cat-mint, Rough Poppy, Narrow-fruited Cornsalad, Small Toadflax, Dwarf Spurge - enough to get even the most hardened of botanists salivating! Last year Red Hemp-nettle was found, a true rarity in Surrey. The farm came up for sale two years ago and was purchased by the Woodland Trust, whose worthy aim is to plant a woodland to commemo...

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 ...