Steve Gale
@stevewg.bsky.social
Surrey-based naturalist on the edge of Greater London with a particular interest in bird migration, lepidoptera and botany. A liking for searching the under-recorded parts of the North Downs.
northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com
northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com
The nerd in me has kept a note every football match that I’ve attended. Out of some sort of perverse interest I thought I’d check up and see what the commonest score has been. Top three (in order)…
1-0
2-1
1-1
No surprises there then.
Followed by (in order):
2-0
3-1
2-2
3-0
3-2
0-0
4-0
1-0
2-1
1-1
No surprises there then.
Followed by (in order):
2-0
3-1
2-2
3-0
3-2
0-0
4-0
January 24, 2026 at 9:25 PM
The nerd in me has kept a note every football match that I’ve attended. Out of some sort of perverse interest I thought I’d check up and see what the commonest score has been. Top three (in order)…
1-0
2-1
1-1
No surprises there then.
Followed by (in order):
2-0
3-1
2-2
3-0
3-2
0-0
4-0
1-0
2-1
1-1
No surprises there then.
Followed by (in order):
2-0
3-1
2-2
3-0
3-2
0-0
4-0
Banstead Athletic 1 SE Dons 4 - my second team from Chatham in a week. For a game in the sixth tier, a crowd of 226 with both sets of supporters singing throughout is fantastic. Played on a mud bath, in good spirit, all is well lower down on the football pyramid.
January 24, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Banstead Athletic 1 SE Dons 4 - my second team from Chatham in a week. For a game in the sixth tier, a crowd of 226 with both sets of supporters singing throughout is fantastic. Played on a mud bath, in good spirit, all is well lower down on the football pyramid.
Banstead, Surrey: worlds upon worlds - the bryophyte and lichen communities to be found on the trunk of a beech tree
January 22, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Banstead, Surrey: worlds upon worlds - the bryophyte and lichen communities to be found on the trunk of a beech tree
Banstead, Surrey: a bit of sun and a waft of warmth and the wintering-flowering heathers entice 2 Buff-tailed Bumblebees. Feels almost like spring…
January 18, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Banstead, Surrey: a bit of sun and a waft of warmth and the wintering-flowering heathers entice 2 Buff-tailed Bumblebees. Feels almost like spring…
Banstead, Surrey: not uncommon, but this invasive harvestman (Opilio canestrinii) was new for me
January 18, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Banstead, Surrey: not uncommon, but this invasive harvestman (Opilio canestrinii) was new for me
Isthmian Prem: Carshalton Athletic 0 Chatham Town 4. A good away support helped swell the crowd to 490. Most of the second half was spent watching a trickle of Magpies enter a scrubby roost to the north of the pitch.
January 17, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Isthmian Prem: Carshalton Athletic 0 Chatham Town 4. A good away support helped swell the crowd to 490. Most of the second half was spent watching a trickle of Magpies enter a scrubby roost to the north of the pitch.
London: you can still act the tourist even in your home town. Egyptian Geese are the new Ring-necked Parakeets.
January 16, 2026 at 12:56 PM
London: you can still act the tourist even in your home town. Egyptian Geese are the new Ring-necked Parakeets.
North Downs, Buckland, Surrey: a misty, calm and sunny morning couldn’t quite banish my post-virus blues although a steady and modest total of 140 Redwing moved through west. The farmland was (bar 100+ mixed finches) bereft of birds. It doesn’t get any easier… #UKBirding #PatchBirding
January 14, 2026 at 7:42 PM
North Downs, Buckland, Surrey: a misty, calm and sunny morning couldn’t quite banish my post-virus blues although a steady and modest total of 140 Redwing moved through west. The farmland was (bar 100+ mixed finches) bereft of birds. It doesn’t get any easier… #UKBirding #PatchBirding
Banstead, Surrey: the 2026 garden bioblitz is well underway, so far hampered by a virus and the snow and ice. However, with my ‘softly softly’ and steady approach it is really enjoyable. Lifers definitely to be had with which to pump up the @panspecieslisting.bsky.social list!
January 13, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Banstead, Surrey: the 2026 garden bioblitz is well underway, so far hampered by a virus and the snow and ice. However, with my ‘softly softly’ and steady approach it is really enjoyable. Lifers definitely to be had with which to pump up the @panspecieslisting.bsky.social list!
Banstead, Surrey: an unexpected movement of Redwing between 08.00 -09.50hrs totalling c485 birds, moving mainly east but a few north #PatchBirding #UKBirding
January 11, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Banstead, Surrey: an unexpected movement of Redwing between 08.00 -09.50hrs totalling c485 birds, moving mainly east but a few north #PatchBirding #UKBirding
2026 sees the 50th anniversary of my first visit to @dungenessbirdobs.bsky.social and in those intervening years have had my fair share of the rare and spectacular. But the one observation that sums it all up was watching a Bee-eater one sunny May morning, feeding around the iconic old lighthouse.
January 4, 2026 at 11:36 AM
2026 sees the 50th anniversary of my first visit to @dungenessbirdobs.bsky.social and in those intervening years have had my fair share of the rare and spectacular. But the one observation that sums it all up was watching a Bee-eater one sunny May morning, feeding around the iconic old lighthouse.
Canons Farm, Surrey: a single unharvested brassica field held most of the action this morning with 30 Skylark, 20 Meadow Pipit, 50 Linnet and 3 Reed Bunting (the latter species scarce here.) #UKBirding #PatchBirding
January 3, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Canons Farm, Surrey: a single unharvested brassica field held most of the action this morning with 30 Skylark, 20 Meadow Pipit, 50 Linnet and 3 Reed Bunting (the latter species scarce here.) #UKBirding #PatchBirding
Banstead, Surrey: a modest start to the 2026 garden bioblitz (it’s a marathon, not a sprint etc…) and I have my first lifer - two tiny flies beaten from Ivy that I’m fairly confident in calling Palloptera scutellata - plus some even smaller Diptera that are way above my pay grade!
January 2, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Banstead, Surrey: a modest start to the 2026 garden bioblitz (it’s a marathon, not a sprint etc…) and I have my first lifer - two tiny flies beaten from Ivy that I’m fairly confident in calling Palloptera scutellata - plus some even smaller Diptera that are way above my pay grade!
Banstead, Surrey: a couple of naturalised plant species locally - Italian Lords-and-ladies and, on the right, Chinese Barberry
January 1, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Banstead, Surrey: a couple of naturalised plant species locally - Italian Lords-and-ladies and, on the right, Chinese Barberry
Mickleham, Surrey: a brief post-Covid wander found four separate plants of Rustyback along the wall between White Hill Cottage and the road. I’ve known it here for close on 30 years. Plenty of Wall-rue as well
January 1, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Mickleham, Surrey: a brief post-Covid wander found four separate plants of Rustyback along the wall between White Hill Cottage and the road. I’ve known it here for close on 30 years. Plenty of Wall-rue as well
A new year day’s birding extravaganza? Not for me I’m afraid, still getting over a bout of Covid… still, a light potter at home will kick-start my year long Garden Bioblitz! Good luck and best wishes to you all for 2026.
December 31, 2025 at 12:34 PM
A new year day’s birding extravaganza? Not for me I’m afraid, still getting over a bout of Covid… still, a light potter at home will kick-start my year long Garden Bioblitz! Good luck and best wishes to you all for 2026.
Thoroughly enjoying a most entertaining and enlightening travel through Tottenham Hotspur in the 1980s with Gareth Dace’s excellent book ‘Hot Shot Tottenham’. He’s written up the 1990s already, can I twist his arm to cover the 60s and 70s for more nostalgic prompts?
@80s90sspursbooks.bsky.social
@80s90sspursbooks.bsky.social
December 31, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Thoroughly enjoying a most entertaining and enlightening travel through Tottenham Hotspur in the 1980s with Gareth Dace’s excellent book ‘Hot Shot Tottenham’. He’s written up the 1990s already, can I twist his arm to cover the 60s and 70s for more nostalgic prompts?
@80s90sspursbooks.bsky.social
@80s90sspursbooks.bsky.social
One of my 2026 projects will be to bioblitz my Surrey garden. This will force me to look at orders that I have neglected (such as spiders, mosses and many invert groups.) A mixture of fun and a steep learning curve. No idea how many species possible, but will hope for at least 750.
December 19, 2025 at 9:16 AM
One of my 2026 projects will be to bioblitz my Surrey garden. This will force me to look at orders that I have neglected (such as spiders, mosses and many invert groups.) A mixture of fun and a steep learning curve. No idea how many species possible, but will hope for at least 750.
Leigh, Surrey: 200+ Fieldfare in fields north of village. My highest ‘local’ count for two winters #UKBirding
December 17, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Leigh, Surrey: 200+ Fieldfare in fields north of village. My highest ‘local’ count for two winters #UKBirding
Banstead Athletic 1 Croydon 0. Both teams put up a spirited and competitive match on a pudding of a pitch with the home team deserving the three points.
December 13, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Banstead Athletic 1 Croydon 0. Both teams put up a spirited and competitive match on a pudding of a pitch with the home team deserving the three points.
My mate, as a 16-year old, bowled up to Wembley Stadium an hour before the kick-off of the 1966 World Cup final, paid for a very affordable ticket at the turnstiles and walked in. Compare that to the modern day ‘big’ match experience.
December 12, 2025 at 6:48 PM
My mate, as a 16-year old, bowled up to Wembley Stadium an hour before the kick-off of the 1966 World Cup final, paid for a very affordable ticket at the turnstiles and walked in. Compare that to the modern day ‘big’ match experience.
Reposted by Steve Gale
Surrey Moths has a new website! There's not much in it, but that will change. All records should now be forwarded to the new verification team. We're looking for all records, all years to help rebuild the database backlog and other missing records. Visit www.surreymoths.org.uk for details. #TeamMoth
Surrey Moths
www.surreymoths.org.uk
December 1, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Surrey Moths has a new website! There's not much in it, but that will change. All records should now be forwarded to the new verification team. We're looking for all records, all years to help rebuild the database backlog and other missing records. Visit www.surreymoths.org.uk for details. #TeamMoth
I’ve just finished reading ‘Wild Twin’ by Jeff Young, published by those wonderful people at @littletollerbooks.bsky.social - a powerful, lyrical and creative masterpiece.
December 12, 2025 at 8:15 AM
I’ve just finished reading ‘Wild Twin’ by Jeff Young, published by those wonderful people at @littletollerbooks.bsky.social - a powerful, lyrical and creative masterpiece.
Buckland, Surrey: during my wanders this morning I was keen to check the crucifer and brassica fields, where this set-aside has enticed a flock of 20 Yellowhammers, by far the highest count that I have had in this particular area.
“Plant it and they will come…”
#UKBirding
“Plant it and they will come…”
#UKBirding
December 11, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Buckland, Surrey: during my wanders this morning I was keen to check the crucifer and brassica fields, where this set-aside has enticed a flock of 20 Yellowhammers, by far the highest count that I have had in this particular area.
“Plant it and they will come…”
#UKBirding
“Plant it and they will come…”
#UKBirding