Banstead Downs

From Londonbirders

Map: [1]

Banstead Downs is situated south of Sutton, being bisected by the A217. This area used to be open chalk downland grazed by sheep and, 200-300 years ago, hosted a well known horse gallops that rivalled the nearby town of Epsom's. Today however it has largely scrubbed over, this growth accelerating in the past 30 years. Recent scrub clearance has been carried out and livestock placed to keep the vegetation down. A golf course is to be found on the western side.

For the naturalist the area is not particularly noteworthy for birds. A good cross-section of warblers breed (including Lesser Whitethroat) and passage of migrants is well pronounced (with the golf course worthy of checking). Grasshopper Warblers bred up until the 1970's and it is still possible to stumble across a singing Wood Warbler in the more wooded eastern area (and even, as one lucky observer did recently, Golden Oriole). The rarest bird that the site can boast is a Lesser Grey Shrike in 1956.

The area is outstanding botanically: Early Gentian and Broad-leaved Cudweed are the jewels in the crown. Among the healthy butterfly population includes Small Blue, Chalkhill Blue, Marbled White and small numbers of Dark Green Fritillary. Extensive moth trapping has revealed a rich and diverse collection of species.

Patchwatch 2006 as at 07/01/06 1)Kestrel 2)Black-headed Gull 3)Herring Gull 4)Feral Rock Dove 5)Woodpigeon 6)Collared Dove 7)Pied Wagtail 8)Robin 9)Blackbird 10)Song Thrush 11)Redwing 12)Goldcrest 13)Long-tailed Tit 14)Coal Tit 15)Blue Tit 16)Great Tit 17)Magpie 18)Jackdaw 19)Carrion Crow 20)Starling 21)House Sparrow 22)Chaffinch 23)Greenfinch 24)Goldfinch 25)Bullfinch

then order of appearance: 26)Great Spotted Woodpecker 27)Sparrowhawk 28)Jay 29)Brambling 30)Common Gull 31)Lesser BB Gull 32)Green Woodpecker 33)Grey Heron 34)Wren 35)Dunnock 36)Ring-necked Parakeet 37)Nuthatch 38)Great BB Gull 39)Canada Goose 40)Tawny Owl 41)Grey Wagtail 42)Mistle Thrush 43)Mute Swan 44)Little Owl 45)Pheasant 46)Blackcap 47)Chiffchaff 48)Willow Warbler 49)Mallard 50)Stock Dove 51)Siskin 52)Skylark 53)Whitethroat 54)Swift 55)Swallow 56)House Martin 57)Cormorant 58)Hobby

Steve Gale