Banstead, Surrey: my second Small Mottled Willow of the week might be small beer to the south coast moth recorders but is still notable here #TeamMoth

Even though I grew up through the time of ‘prog rock’ it passed me by - in fact I was positively sniffy about it - but, 55+ years later I finally get it. ‘The Yes Album’ is a good starting point with the track ‘Starship Troopers’ positively joyous with all prog-rock cliches present and correct! Joy!

A few butterflies and much muttering northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/07/rip-...

Epsom Downs, Surrey: 500 Gatekeeper, 125 Chalkhill Blue, 100 Marbled White, 12 Dark Green Fritillary, a Silver-washed Fritillary and this Clouded Yellow (in sun and backlit).

Banstead, Surrey: MV headliner this morning was the garden’s fifth Olive. No image as the individual involved was a little ‘rough round the edges’. Bit like me at 05.00hrs after a fitful night in 20C temperatures… #TeamMoth

Banstead, Surrey: a single Small Mottled Willow to MV (third garden record, previous in October 1995 and August 2015) #TeamMoth

Banstead, Surrey: a strikingly marked Noctua which is most probably a Langmaid’s LBBY Underwing, just found in the garden #TeamMoth

Banstead, Surrey: a nice surprise to the MV this morning was this Ni Moth #TeamMoth

Kamikaze Pheasant northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/07/play...

The Surrey Wildlife Trust collection. We are very fortunate to have such a series of publications catering for the county, all to a high standard and comprehensive enough to be of value to naturalists elsewhere. More please!

A week in North Cornwall northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/07/chou...

One for the @gandermonium.bsky.social boys - Epsom and Ewell warming up for their first pre-season match (against Leatherhead). One Dundo (on the left) putting them through their paces.

The joy of 3G pitches! Just watched my first pre-season friendly of 2026-27 - Banstead Athletic 3 Surrey Casuals 2, which is being directly followed by a much more weightier game on exactly the same pitch - Leatherhead v Epsom &Ewell. Happy days!

West Pentire - Polly Joke, Cornwall: an afternoon spent in the company of a flock of seven confiding Choughs. Bridge camera in overdrive. So much excellent habitat to hide those autumn vagrants. Dare I gamble and try it? Home tomorrow, thank you once again Kernow…

Kelsey Head, Cornwall: 13,000 Manx Shearwater west between 05.40 - 08.10hrs. Other highlights on a 21.9km walk - Red-veined Darter, 5 Hummingbird Hawks, more Babbington’s Leek and Sea Holly than I’ve seen before, 6 Chough, Peregrine and a myriad of bees and wasps than remain unidentified!

West Pentire, Cornwall: sneaked off for an hour this afternoon that produced three Puffin and a handful of Manx Shearwater from the headland, 4 Chough, good numbers of butterfly (including 30+ Painted Lady) and two Hummingbird Hawk-moths. Big walk planned for tomorrow!

West Pentire, Cornwall: fields full of Corn Marigold, my first Clouded Yellow of 2026 and a group of four Choughs was fair reward for a day of little effort

West Pentire, Cornwall: my love affair with the north Cornish coast is rekindled. Whole family in tow, but - whisper it - so are the optics…

Banstead, Surrey: maybe unrelated to the high temperatures but I doubt it: a Red Admiral just spent 45 minutes resting on the lawn in shade without moving and a Peacock butterfly sought out shelter under a water butt and is still there an hour later. Little flying.

Banstead, Surrey: disappointing results from the MV last night with a reduced catch both numerically and in species composition. When going through the trap at 04.45hrs the moths were very jumpy and difficult to process. Too warm? #TeamMoth

Banstead, Surrey: Seeing that I’ll be up late watching the Scotland v Brazil match I might as well watch the MV in tandem. How many species is possible? Starting at 18.00hrs with net and pots. 100? Worth a go. #TeamMoth

I’ve started to get a taste for this, and in this hot weather nice and cold straight out of the fridge. But at 6.5% it needs to be treated with respect. Cheers!

Banstead, Surrey: the highest temperature in the shade this afternoon was 100F (37.7C). Garden record is 38.5C in 2022. The times they are a’changing…

Joining in the chat northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/06/psl-...

Letter in today's Times by climate scientist Sir Brian Hoskins: "The discourse around net-zero is increasingly decoupled from…science and our changing weather. "Net-zero is not an arbitrary slogan, rather it is dictated by the laws of physics."

Banstead, Surrey: Marbled White becomes the 25th species of butterfly recorded in the garden - overdue seeing that its numbers and range have increased locally.

Banstead, Surrey: busy night at the garden MV headlined by a Lobster (3rd garden record), Lesser-spotted Pinion (not annual) and a further 2 Udea fulvalis #TeamMoth

Banstead, Surrey: a busier night at the garden MV with star species being my second Striped Hawk-moth of the month plus this pyralid which I believe to be Udea fulvalis (which I have not seen before) #TeamMoth

Banstead, Surrey: no obvious migrants to the MV but this Grey Arches is not annual in the trap #TeamMoth

The current heat wave puts me on high alert to the possibility of ‘hot weather’ moth wanderers to the Banstead, Surrey MV. Written in 2021. northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2021/06/firs...

Banstead, Surrey: a disappointing MV haul last night, but did include a Plumed Fanfoot (now seemingly established locally) and this European Corn-borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) not often recorded here #TeamMoth

Banstead, Surrey: fourth night in a row and first multiple count of The Blackneck (3) to the garden MV. Usually not annual here with not much in the way of its foodplant(s) close by. Is it having a good year elsewhere? #TeamMoth

Banstead, Surrey: another species to add to the local suburban ‘grass-verge’ list : Crimson Clover just starting to flower #UrbanPlants

Pan-Species Listing: How to Become a Super-Naturalist review For anyone interested in biological recording – or simply keen to broaden their natural-history horizons – this is a brilliant title, says Ed Stubbs: https://bit.ly/4vPwteM

A bit more about chalk scrapes and rare plants @bsbibotany.bsky.social northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-he...

North Surrey: the chalk scrapes are acting as a nursery for Surrey- provenance collected seed: Ground-pine, Wild Candytuft and Cut-leaved Germander, the latter spreading prolifically - in the wild it is struggling.

Well worth investing in…

I don’t often get gripped off by a bird at my beloved Dungeness, but I’ll make an exception for this one. If Monet did field guides…

Legacy northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/06/davi...

Just about to start watching my 16th football World Cup (yes I can remember 1966!) Favourite tournaments? Mexico 70, Argentina 78, Italy 90. Best goal? Carlos Alberto (Brazil v Italy 1970). Best final? Argentina v France 2022. Worst final? Brazil v Italy 1994. Forget the background noise, enjoy

Seconds… northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/06/whit...

44,891 reasons to be cheerful northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/06/walk...

Inverts northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/06/ladi...

Some late May birds northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-ta...

12 days on the shingle northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/06/wond...

Banstead, Surrey: even us inland moth-ers are getting in on a bit of the migrant action - this Striped Hawk-moth is only my second here (previous 1 Sept 2006) #TeamMoth

Dungeness, Kent: the last full day of my current stay was bedecked in Painted Lady butterflies with c500 on the point, arriving just after first light and gone by lunchtime. A singing Golden Oriole at ARC was a bonus. @neilburt.bsky.social tempted me into a lemon meringue sundae - naughty but nice!

Dungeness, Kent: wind went west, light cloud rolled in - cue much drinking of tea and chatting on the banks of the moat while sky watching. Time was well spent with a Norfolk Hawker on the southern Long Pit combined with a visit to the small colony of Marsh Cinquefoil. We go again tomorrow.

Dungeness, Kent: the f3-4 easterly died down to a barely noticeable southerly. Projected overnight temp of 18c has us most hopeful that the MVs will deliver. Martin’s Concolorous from Lydd, plus showy Lesser Emperors and a Norfolk Hawker at DBO were the highlights. Birds failed to deliver…

@dartfordbirder.bsky.social @mjlbirder.bsky.social Deep joy…