NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

The countdown of my most enjoyable natural events of the past five years continues: 5. Pewsey chalk downland Up until the late 19th-century, my family roots were firmly established in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire. The family tree that my father pulled together shows a line of simple folk - pot men, farm hands - all born, married and buried within the parishes of All Cannings and Alton Priors. At the end of the 1980s my Father returned, and it was then that I got a chance to reconnect with my forebears. I liked what I found. Fanciful or not, I found a connection. It also happens to be a wonderful place for the naturalist. Pewsey Downs (above) is a piece of prime chalk downland that boasts a great species assemblage. On Wednesday 14th June 2017 I spent a warm, but breezy day wandering the slopes. I had several major targets - two species of moth (Wood Tiger and Cistus Forester) and the localised Down Shieldbug ( Canthophorus impressus ). But, targets or not, it is the chalk down...

I spent all of yesterday wandering the slopes of Pewsey Downs in Wiltshire, a return to my ancestral roots. From the top of Milk, Walker's and Knapp Hill, you can look southwards across the fertile plains towards Salisbury Plain or north through farmland peppered with burial mounds and standing stones. It is a world of big skies and lay lines, a place with one foot still firmly in the past. From a distance it appears an unbroken green. But if you venture into the steep-sided valleys, or contour you way around a hill, you will soon come across the chalk downland flowers, in places a riot of colour. Orchids carpet the ground, with Common Spotted numbering well into six figures. Apart from the ubiquitous Common Spotted I also recorded Frog (two individuals showing the variation in colour above), Lesser Butterfly (below, just going over), Bee, Chalk Fragrant and Pyramidal. I have seen Burnt here, but they are a late flowerer at this site. Although the day was sunny...