NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Epsom Downs (plus the adjoining Walton Downs) has an ornithological history that has been documented -  in fits and starts - over the years, from the Victorian bird-catchers up to the (very few) 21st-century observers of which I am one of that number. My own time 'up on the downs' has been rather sporadic, but has rewarded me, with Arctic Skua, Quail, Honey Buzzard and Osprey the headliners. There have also been times when good numbers of birds revealed themselves to me while on the move, most strikingly the amazing Stonechat passage of early-October 2022 that peaked at 65+ on 6th with up to three Dartford Warblers in tow. Days of notable swift, pipit and hirundine visible migration have also been enjoyed.  Last autumn I dedicated a few days to staking out the skies above these downs which, although lacking in ideal weather conditions, still provided numbers that suggested that a more concerted effort would be rewarding - a few sessions with southerly passage of Meadow Pipits (

Yesterday I met up with Joe Hobden on a cloudy and cool Bank Holiday Monday morning. The main aim of the outing was to check on the large numbers of Bird's-nest Orchids that can be found on the southern slope of Mickleham Downs, between White Hill Car Park and Headley Warren. Joe is on a bit of an orchid odyssey at the moment and I needed little persuasion to join him in his infectious enthusiasm. The slope along the 1km length of our search is steep, with little in the way of clearings amongst the - at times - dense woodland of Yew, Beech, Ash (dying back), various conifers and Box. Yes, the Box here, in its natural environment, takes on the guise of tree rather than ornamental hedge. We estimated that, at a minimum, 5,500+ spikes of Bird's-nest Orchid were located. The majority of them (c5,000) were found on the steepest of the slopes above Cockshott Cottage, in an area that could have taken up no more room than a couple of full-sized football pitches. Unlike previous years w

May 16th     Day 6     13.6k walked     96 species cumulative total An afternoon session at Holmethorpe SP which had me covering the whole area via the many footpaths, also taking in the open, grassy Nutfield Ridge, which commands fine views across the sand workings, refuse tip and nearby North Downs. It was at this latter site that a group of nine Red Kites were watched, wheeling above the refuse tip as they joined the gathered scavenging corvids. They were not the only raptor highlight, with three Hobby hunting newly emerging odonata above Spynes Mere and the neighbouring Mercer's Farm, where the majority of the 80+ Sand Martins were found, along with a handful of Swifts and House Martins. A Lapwing, two Common Terns, a Sedge Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, two Garden Warblers and a Yellowhammer were further highlights. May 17th     Day 7    33.9k walked     103 species cumulative total A big day as far as shoe leather was concerned, with a whopping 33.9km walked. Parking at the t

Last year, at the end of May, I took the decision to have a natural-history themed holiday at home, rather than go to the expense and faff of travelling elsewhere. As I've gotten older my wish to remain close to home has strengthened and my curiosity as to what can be found 'from my doorstep' increased. It was a rewarding exercise - I left the car at home and walked miles each day, sometimes exploring footpaths that were unknown to me - and although the birding was quiet (it was early June) some plant and insect discoveries were notable. So, it it was so much fun, why not do it again? And this time, being mid-May, why not just make it about the birds... Surrey birds! There was one change however, and that was that I would use the car at times to head out south-westwards to explore parts of the county that I had no visited for a long, long time. With such thoughts being energising, I expectantly waited for the starting gun to sound, announcing the start of my 10 day Surrey B

They say a change is as good as a rest, so rather than visit one of my many local patches, yesterday afternoon I took myself off to the Greensand Ridge of southern Surrey. It is an area that I do know in parts but have not visited for several years. Armed with the trusty OS map, I parked at Friday Street and made my way to Leith Hill via a number of footpaths, some that I had walked before and others that were unfamiliar. Several loops were taken in the name of 'exploration', a good couple of hours were spent on the open heathland of Duke's Warren (above), with the whole expedition ending with a magical strike out northwards from Broadmoor along the achingly beautiful Tilling Bourne valley. I have a confession to make. I'm not a great fan of the Greensand nor heathland. As I walked across, up and down the said area in question, I quizzed myself as to why that was. My most obvious dislike is of conifer plantations, especially when they are planted on dry, sandy soil. The

It's funny how a day can flip on its head within seconds. I had just completed going through the moth trap (uneventful) and was daydreaming about my proposed uberpatch birding blitz planned for tomorrow when I checked my phone which had just blurted out a WhattsApp alert.  Woodchat Shrike at Beddington!  Now, I am not well known for dropping everything and heading hotfoot to the said rare bird, but a combination of this particular species and one of my old patches was too good to resist, especially since those kind Beddington Farmland Birding Group members had arranged for all-comers to gain entry behind the locked gates. I was on site by 10.00hrs to be greeted at the Mile Road gate by the smiling face of the birds finder, Mark Bravery. He ushered the few gathered birders onto the inner footpath that ran between the North and South Lakes, and onwards for 200m to where the shrike was still present, on a bramble-choked western facing slope, tucked out of the stiff breeze. The bird be

With Easter about to be celebrated it has come to my attention that a personal landmark is fast approaching. During my school Easter holidays of 1974 I experienced a Damascene ornithological moment that instantly turned me from somebody that thought little about birds into an obsessive. That event occurred 50 years ago, or, if you want to make it sound more like ancient history, half a century. I do have to come clean that Easter 1974 happened in mid-April, so the anniversary is three weeks away yet, but with the holiday fast approaching it seems like a good time to reminisce. I have written about 'that moment' before on this blog (and you can read a fuller account if you so desire by clicking on the 'ND&B publications' tab above and then visiting the 'Of My Time' account. Here's an abridged taster: And there it was, on the garden lawn. A Jay. I involuntarily held my breath, keeping completely still, so as not to spook the bird with sudden movement. Igno

Back in the mists of time (or at least the turn of the millennium) I sat down and worked out my UK list of lifeforms that I had identified. This was primarily made up of birds, plants, butterflies and moths, although I was able to dig up plenty of additional filler, such as dragonflies, easy to identify insects and a whole host of miscellaneous creatures that I could remember having seen. I kept it in a notebook and now and again would suddenly remember something from the past and add it to the list. The list was purely for a bit of fun, and as far as I were aware there was nobody else that kept such a pointless tally - but I was so very, very wrong. I cannot remember the moment that I became aware of other 'lifeform listers' although I'm pretty sure that the name Mark Telfer was involved. He, too, kept such a list and not only that, he was on the lookout for other like-minded souls, to gather (and publish) a league table of totals. Even though my competitive listing days w

The belated 'Waxwing Winter' continues in Surrey, with birds on offer at places such as Farnham, Carshalton, Wallington, Redhill, Ashtead, Bookham and Leatherhead. Some of these may be the same flock meandering around the local berry crop, but it would be fair to say that there must be at least a couple of hundred in the county. At most sites the birds are keeping fairly faithful so that any observer wanting their Waxwing fix is able to do so. During the week I went along to Leatherhead to see the 50+ birds which were feeding on (and in) Mistletoe behind the leisure centre. There is plenty of Mistletoe in the area (as can be seen in the pictures above) and the birds spent a lot of time perched out in view, their soft trilling competing with the nearby sub-singing Redwings. A Mistle Thrush did decided to confront the flock, harshly rattling in warning, no doubt defending its patch of Mistletoe. Quite sensibly, even though they outnumbered it 50 to 1, the Waxwings decided to vaca

It must have been some time in the early 2000s that I first counted up all of the life forms that I had identified and recorded in Britain. This fledgling list was largely made up of birds, moths and plants with a few large, colourful and obvious insects thrown in for good measure. I thought of it as an enjoyable sideshow in my natural history studies, and, as a maintainer of lists rather than a chaser of them, it kept itself firmly in the background, coming out to play whenever I had a few ticks to add to it. I'm at a loss to remember the precise moment that I discovered that there were others out there that kept a similar list - maybe through an internet search or a discussion while out birding, but I soon found myself in touch with Mark Telfer, who was organising a web-site devoted to such matters with an accompanying league table of recorder's lists. I needed no second invite to post my efforts and, very briefly, found myself in the top 10 of the innaugaral table. I soon st

After a fairly featureless wander around Holmethorpe Sand Pits with Gordon Hay this morning - our time being spent under a dull dark-grey blanket of cloud, and wondering where all the birds had gone - we decided to make the short journey to the Frenches Road area of Redhill, where a group of Waxwings had been found yesterday afternoon. On arrival just the one bird was present, perched high in a Silver Birch before it descended onto a pale-orange berried Sorbus tree to feed. After 20 minutes a further 28 Waxwings decided to show. They were wary, keeping high and away from the Sorbus berries. Our patience was rewarded as they came down to feed several times. Their location of choice was unfortunate - a small, neat cul-de-sac of modern houses - an area in which I would feel awkward loitering even without a pair of binoculars and a camera around my neck. There is no way that you can blend into such surroundings. I was, without any doubt, intruding on the resident's space and privacy. A

In the last post, I eluded to spending some fruitless time trying to track down my own Waxwings - but what I didn't admit to was that I was also wasting minutes by dipping on other peoples, including a brief flock in Epsom 12-days ago. Since then there have been a rash of sightings in the Ashtead area, the birds never settling for long, at least not long enough for others to join the original observer in watching them. Yesterday saw a flock of 60+ fly over the area, but not settle. Us local birders needed a break and this morning that came courtesy of Andy Holden, who, after searching the area for several days, found a flock of c20 Waxwings feeding on Mistletoe berries in Greville Park Road. The alert from Andy came just before 10.00hrs, and, needing to be elsewhere by lunchtime, gave me just  a brief window of opportunity to see them, but, happy to say, I was successful. The birds were keeping to the top of a tall tree feeding on the berries of several large clumps of Mistletoe. L

Since the last post I have been pounding the streets in a fruitless search for Waxwings; combing the slopes and woods of the downs with my newly refurbished binoculars; taking notice of the emerging flora; been staring at my telescope and tripod thinking that it is about time that they are given an outing; and have run the MV trap in the garden (with limited, but welcome success). Bird-wise it has been quiet. There are still very low numbers of thrushes and finches about (although this superb Fieldfare decided to hang around for a photo-shoot) and I have to admit that it has been disheartening at times. Of course, there have been highlights, with 180 Skylarks still hanging on in the Canons Farm stubble; a gathering of 2,000 Woodpigeons on Ranmore Common, most of which arrived during the first hour of daylight from the south; and three Brambling discretely tucked into a Chaffinch flock at the latter location. On the plant front the usual winter-flowering suspects have been seen, with on

This Little Egret was being faithful to a back channel of the Hogsmill at Ewell My 2024 birding year has just celebrated being a fortnight old and so far has not set any proverbial cats among any proverbial pigeons. There have been one or two 'moments' but by and large the rewards have been modest. All efforts have been close to home, with visits having been made to Banstead Downs, Epsom Downs, Headley Heath, Banstead Heath, Canons Farm, Rushett Farm, the River Hogsmill at Ewell and the wooded slopes of Bramblehall and Juniper (close to Boxhill). It has been very quiet, with few thrushes and finches. Each and every winter is different and this particular winter just seems to be having an ornithological snooze - there will be parts of the country full of birds, but just not in this particular corner of Surrey. Highlights? A couple of sizeable Redpoll flocks and a count of 255 Skylarks at Canons Farm that were hunkered down in the large stubble fields on the southern boundary. Wi

In November 2005 I purchased a pair of Swarovski 10x42 EL binoculars from The London Camera Exchange shop in Guildford, for the then princely sum of £899. These bins have served me well, with almost daily use in all types of weather, testing their durability to the maximum - salt water spray, deluges of rain, 38C temperatures, dust, dirt, slight knocks... and apart from the armour coating that had started to bubble and come away from the body, nothing to be alarmed about. Then, in the summer of 2022, I noticed that I had a problem when close focusing - the outer focusing wheel would lose grip and it would take me an age to regain a middle-ground distance of focus - plus, over the next few weeks this outer focusing wheel became loose. I resorted to the use of tape to keep it all in place, but realised that I had to do something about it in the long run. For a while I did consider buying a new pair - after all, they were then 17-years old - but they were still optically superb. It seemed