Adur Wildlife Reports:                  10 March 2005

As air temperature (10.7 ºC) went into double figures for the first time since 12 February 2005, about one thousand Lapwings circled the River Adur estuary by Old Shoreham on the receding tide (WX Tide 4 metres at Shoreham Harbour) about 2.00 pm waiting for enough mud to appear for the flock to land. They are easier to count in the air and were in three flocks of 300 to 350 birds in each.
On the River Adur, the four ducks around the first bend north of the A27 Flyover, were four Pochards which are unusual on the tidal river; their maroon heads of the three males most distinctive. Further north on the bend of the main river by Cuckoo’s Corner, four Little Grebes, swam and dived in the flat calm water.
 
Crow's Nest Roadside Rabbit burrows (Coombes Road)

A pair of Mallards were on the flooded freshwater stream that ran parallel with the river south of Cuckoo’s Corner.

There were a pair of Wrens at Cuckoo’s Corner car park, at least a pair of Long-tailed Tits in the naked trees as the Coombes Road crossed Ladywell Stream. The inevitable dozen or so Moorhens were on the lowland field behind the scout’s cabin. In the crow’s nests tree tops by the canopy on the southern approaches to Coombes, I could not discern if the black corvids were Crows or Rooks.

The road verges on the incline to the Applesham farm junction were warrened with rabbit burrows. A dozen plus Rabbits were seen.
A Grey Heron was on vigil on the banks of Passies Pond.

On the cyclepath south of the Cement Works, Coltsfoot flowers amongst the grass were most noticeable. I could not find any leaves for this plant.  On the rotten logs on the cyclepath verges there were numerous Trametes bracket fungi and on the end of another log there were some King Alfred’s Cakes; a distinctive blackish-coloured fungus.
 
Trametes on a rotten log on the Coastal Link cyclepath King Alfred's Cakes

Back in Shoreham town, there was at least one Wren seen over twitten between Ropetackle and Victoria Road, next to the railway embankment.

On Kingston Buci beach, the tide went out as far as I had ever seen. There was very little life in the pools. A Grey Topshell (a usually abundant small gastropod) on an Oyster was unusual for this beach. There was Dogwhelk, Nucella lapillus,  (common predatory gastropod) feeding on a Mussel and an adult Blenny, Lipophrys pholis, (small green fish) under a boulder.

Lichens:

On the Hulk to the south-east of the Tollbridge
 

On broken fences at Cuckoo's Corner
 

At Botolphs, near the River Adur
 
Lichens on concrete between Botolphs and the River Adur

Near (south-west of on the cyclepath) Beeding Cement Works