NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

The pan-lister in me couldn't resist buying 'Great British Marine Animals' by Paul Naylor, its third edition having just published. This is a photographic guide to the commoner species found in UK waters and has already helped me add to my marine list (with a bit of retro checking of my Cornish rock pool pictures taken last August). What is sobering is the number of marine animal species to be found in the UK - go on, have a guess. 250? 500? It can't be over a thousand, can it? Yes it can... Approximately 7,000. Take sponges. There are in the region of 400 species of sponge to tempt the pan-lister, but Paul Naylor throws in a curve-ball by suggesting that microscopic examination is often essential to clinch an ID. This book has caused me to adopt an ambition marine mammal, although I doubt that I'll ever see one. The Fireworks Anemone is big, spectacular and inhabits deep water such as the bottom of muddy Scotish sea-lochs. Another thing that is obvious is...

I spent five hours meandering over the not insignificant Ranmore Common, as much as to get a bit of fresh air and exercise as it was to hoover up the wildlife set before me. The wooded areas were quiet, although I recorded a minimum of eight Marsh Tits. The open chalk downland was quieter still and teased me with the promise of all of those Chalkhill Blues, Adonis Blues and Silver-spotted Skippers to come. I even stood at the edge of the field at the base of the slope that harbours a fine array of so-called 'arable weeds' - but not today. That is all for later... Fungi was not hard to come by, although I do shy away from anything that looks as if it has gone over. Fungi can be difficult enough to identify without putrefecation thrown in as an added obstacle. Turkeytail (above) was common and I came across Yellow Brain (below) to add a splash of colour to the day. I saw an awful lot of moss. It was everywhere. I was tempted, I really was, but I reminded myself not to get i...

Gulls. Can't get away from the buggers at the moment. Every other blog seems to parade the latest images of Iceland Gulls, Med Gulls, Caspian Gulls, even humble Herring Gulls. Of all ages. And races. A grey, white and buff celebration of all things larid. Why don't I sound so keen? Well, I do like gulls. I even scope flocks of them and pit my knowledge of them against what is before me. I reckon I'm OK on gulls but not up to scratch compared to the true larophiles that seem to lurk in every harbour, landfill site and reservoir the length and breadth of Britain. Gulls seem to attract a certain sort of birder. They are pioneers (there is still so much to learn about them). They are purists (the need of critical examination, note taking and good old fashioned fieldcraft is required). They are confident (if you don't have birding self-belief you wouldn't tackle them). I can understand why some birders look the other way where gulls are concerned. Not everybody...

One of my shortest lists is of celebrities that I have seen whilst birding. Most of them barely even qualify as celebrities, so the list might be considered stringy... BILL ODDIE I've bumped into the ex-Goodie and TV birder on quite a few occasions, but one meeting on the shingle at Dungeness deserves highlighting. Me: "Hi!" Bill: "Hello" Me: "There are a few Whinchats further along" Bill: "Thanks" I reckon that's worth a Channel 4 dramatisation at some future point. CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY The 'All Creatures Great and Small' actor and doyen of BBC1 afternoon TV was walking with a family group at Pagham Harbour. He was not carrying binoculars. I nodded at him (as I would to anybody even if they are not famous) but he didn't see me do so. Or he ignored me. DEREK JARMAN Artistic film director. Had a house at Dungeness.Regularly past him as I birded close to his garden. Now and again bumped into him within the DBO recor...

Thanks to Derek Coleman and members of the London Bat Group, I was able to join them on one of three winter visits that they undertake to count the bat roost that can be found in two disused tunnels right next to Highgate tube station in north London (above). These Victorian brick tunnels were used by steam trains up until the 1950s and are now boarded up and pitch black inside, save for small caged openings at either end. The floor of the tunnels are a medley of old track, corroded metal and shattered stone, a murderous cocktail without a torchlight to guide us through. The walls have been blackened by soot over the years and age has taken its toll on the mortar - nice hidey holes for the mammals to roost in. There were plenty of experts at hand to explain about bat ecology and the history behind this particular roost. On a mild day the experts prediction was that the count would be 'in the low-to-mid teens' and they were spot on - we found 15 individual bats, 12 Natt...

I had reason to try out my recent book purchase (Colin Hart's excellent plume moth book), as this mornings back garden MV 'haul' comprised a Spring Usher and a plume moth sp. If I am honest I thought that the plume was Amblyptilia acanthadactyla , and so it proved, rendering using the book to crack a difficult identification redundant, although I did learn a lot about the species by reading the thorough account (including the English name of Beautiful Plume). This morning I also saw an Early Moth, resting on a wall at Banstead Station. 2012 GARDEN MOTH SPECIES TOTAL: 2 (Macro: 1 Micro: 1)

The more popular this pan-species lark gets, the further down the list I go. If I were a man I would learn all of my mosses, liverworts and lichens, befriend an insect expert, string like hell and haul my sorry ass up into the play-off positions (that's 3rd - 6th for you non-Football types). Fat chance... 1 st : Jonty Denton (10,535) 2 nd : Dave Gibbs (9,506) 3 rd : Mark Telfer (6,169) 4 th : Malcolm Storey (5,284) 5 th : John Palmer (5,280) 6 th : Graeme Lyons (3,713) 7 th : Martin Harvey (3,681) 8 th : Sarah Patton (3,327) 9 th : Nicola Bacciu (3,253) 10 th : Matt Prince (3,217) 11 th : Jonathan Newman (3,013) 12 th : Steve Gale (3,012) 13 th : Tony Davis (2,953) 14 th : Seth Gibson (2,495) 15 th : Rob Woodall (2,328) 16 th : Jeff Blincow (2,170) 17 th : Mark Skevington (1,983) 18 th : Graham French (1,943) 19 th : Stuart Dunlop (1,404) 20 th : Josh Jenkins-Shaw (1,342) 21 st : Clive Washington (1,060) 22 nd : Sami Webster (900) 23 rd : Robert Smith (894) ...