NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Sat hello to Cydalima perspectalis , otherwise known as the Boxworm Moth . It was first recorded in the UK some 10 years ago, but has only just started to spread out across the home counties and further afield. This Asian species was most probably imported with its foodplant, Box, but here lies the problem... it can be a pest on Box, which, when involving the cultivated specimens in people's gardens is merely an inconvenience... but let these moths loose on Box Hill and surrounds, then it could cause quite a problem for the truly wild, and local, Box. So when I found one nestled in the bottom of the garden MV this morning it was a mixture of delight (never seen one before) and horror (I'm not that far, as the moth flies from wild Box.)

I spent four hours this morning on Reigate and Colley Hills, seemingly cut off from civilisation courtesy of a low drizzly mist that enveloped the hills in a milky light that not only softened all that I saw but muffled any sound. There wasn't an awful lot to see or hear to be honest, although a couple of Treecreepers decided that this was the time to engage in a bit of singing. - not a lot else joined in. it wasn't until I started to scan the fields just off the ridge (towards Mogador) that there was a bit of activity, with a loose flock of 500 Redwing leapfrogging their way across the earth as they fed. I was heartened to see that, in several places, the fields here had flooded, although any hoped for displaced wader was aiming far too high - apart from a lethargic flock of gulls nothing else had been tempted down. A quick nip into the closest bit of Walton Heath woodland provided the hoped for Marsh Tit (2015 patch list now on 61 species). Daphne laureola - that's Spu...

I was walking on Mickleham Downs this morning. Not a lot doing, but I was struck at how the Box varied in appearance. This very local plant is common here. You normally come across it in clumps looking like 'messy shrubs', although where it has grown to tree-like proportions it seems to ditch the lower branches (no doubt there isn't enough light for them to leaf) and become a different beast altogether. I took a few pictures to illustrate the point... Box in the open, a collection of messy 'shrubs' Mature Box. Note the lack of lower leafing branches and more tree-like appearance. Baby Box at the base of a Beech