NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Harry Cawkell would tap his pipe out, lean back into the common room chair, survey the eager faces before him and then begin. Anecdotes and stories, gossip and rumour, all had a place in the show that had now started. Harry, Dungeness Bird Observatory’s (DBO) long standing honorary secretary, loved nothing more than to talk about ‘the old times’ with any birders that happened to be in his orbit when he popped into the obs. For those of us who had known Harry for a few years the stories would be familiar, but we listened with avid interest regardless. Some of his stories were so familiar, and so rarely did he deviate in their telling, that we would know exactly what words were about to be spoken. Some of these became catchphrases. Harry’s stories - and Harry’s telling of them - became part of the Dungeness story itself. And then, in 1999, Harry died. And with him went those stories… They didn’t entirely go. Some of us remembered them, or at least the odd personally selected highlight. I...

Banstead Downs sits just to the south of the Greater London boundary - in fact, if you cross the road at its northern limit you will be straying into the London Borough of Sutton. This relatively modest area of chalk downland has a decent record of natural history recording (no doubt due to the close proximity of London) and so for the local naturalist there is the pleasure of being able to browse historical species lists across several groups. Having lived in the general area for 55 years my ventures onto this particular downland were primarily in search of its birds, plants and butterflies, but recently that has shifted to dipping in-and-out of the wonderful array of invertebrates that it has to offer. This morning I had a small window of opportunity to go exploring. There is one small area on the eastern flank that I make a bee-line for, with low vegetation choked with Bramble, Stinging-nettle, Cow Parsley and Hogweed (with a dash of Horse-radish for good measure). It is next to a l...

Dungeness is a superb location for seeking out invertebrates, be they common-place or specialists. For a 'jack of all trades' like myself - and certainly no expert - such immersion into the world of insects can be daunting, but ultimately highly rewarding. Identification down to species level will not be possible for many of the individuals that you might come across, but sometimes just being able to identify the creature before you to a specific family is reward enough. And, at times, you just need to admit defeat when you realise that the bee you are watching might just be a hoverfly, or even a wasp - it is OK to hold your hands up and surrender! You are also opening yourself up to life on a steep learning curve when looking at tiny insects with the aid of a magnifying glass or a loop, only to realise that there are even smaller insects alongside them. Are these even smaller beasts a different species or nymphs of the larger ones with them? Questions, questions... A few of my...

It was but a month ago that I suggested that staying at Dungeness Bird Observatory (DBO) might be a thing of the past for me. Seeing that I have just returned from a week’s residency at that very same establishment proves that I really do not know my a*** from my elbow… And what an enjoyable week it was. There may not have been the volume of migrants that were hoped for,  but there was rarity, there was a more than passable passage at sea, the invertebrates were forthcoming and the pleasure to be gained from meeting up with friends old and new was priceless. It will come as no surprise to even the most casual of visitors to this blog that the shingle, once again, burrowed its way deep inside of me and on more than a few occasions I found myself stopping in my tracks to take in special moments - I will try to put these moments into words, although words can rarely evoke the feelings that these jolts of joy produce. Star billing went to Dungeness’s third Iberian Chiffchaff, found sin...