BUTTERFLIES
 DRAGONFLIES
 HOVERFLIES
 BUMBLEBEES

Bumblebees
Hoverflies
Butterflies
Skippers
Solitary Bees
Adur Bees, Wasps & Sawflies
Flies
Ladybirds
Beetles
Moths
Burnet Moths
Hawk-moths
Grasshoppers & Crickets
Damselflies & Dragonflies
Bugs
Spiders

15 December 2021

October - November 2021

An escaped female Derbyan Parakeet has spent the best part of two months flying around residential north Shoreham in the vicinity of Parkside seen in the photograph in a favoured large tree in Middle Road. It's raucous call is more often heard than a clear sight of the bird.

PS: There appears to be at least two birds. The other one (which I haven't seen) was reported by at least two witnesses with a red beak and may be a different species.

23 September 2021
After the driest September this century the downs were parched with dried grasses and plants. And everywhere the flowers had disappeared apart from a handful of late flowering ruderals. It was time for the berries and spiders as we move past middle autumn. With absence of nectar, butterflies were few except for the frequent whites.
 
 

4 August 2021
Twelve species of butterfly showed on the top of Mill Hill on a surprise sunny afternoon led by the very frequent Chalkhill Blues..
Full List

3 August 2021

Butterflies fluttered over the lower slopes of Mill Hill under a cloudy sky in the afternoon. Frequent 25+ Gatekeepers, 25+ Meadow Browns, 30+ Chalkhill Blues, including a mating pair, were joined by occasional Large Whites and at least one each of a Marbled White, female Common Blue, Peacock, and Small Tortoiseshell. Treble-bar Moths, Yellow Shell Moths and 6-spotted Burnet Moths were seen. A Kite-tailed Robberfly, Tolmerus atricapillus, waited in ambush. There was one large brown Oak Eggar Moth caterpillar crawling over the path. On the top part south of the reservoir, I added a Brimstone Butterfly. Painted Lady and Small Heath.

23 July 2021
At last, a handful of male Chalkhill Blue Butterflies fluttered restlessly over the lower slopes of Mill Hill. 

24 June 2021
My first Ringlet Butterfly of the year fluttered around the early post Summer Solstice flowers over the verge of the Downs Link south of the Cement Works.

21 June 2021
An Oceanic Sunfish Mola mola, was reported from Rampion Windfarm,

17 June 2021
My first fish seen this year were a shoal of twenty Grey Mullet in the shallows off Ropetackle as the tide came in.

28 May 2021
A trip to the Knepp Estate introduced me to a habitat that was largely unfamiliar to me and I would describe as a lowland woodland pasture over clay, dominated by Oak trees. This is mostly different to the quickly draining windswept chalk downs above Shoreham. The Knepp Rewilding Project attempts to recreate a habitat to give an idea of what the natural landscape was in prehistoric times. 

We chose the anti-clockwise circular two and a half mile "white" route using public footpaths through pasture and woodland on a pleasant slightly overcast early afternoon. After enjoying the first views of the Stork and chicks on the first nest we followed the map for two and a half hours through the Wealden countryside. I was constantly surprised at every turn on the level trail which was muddy in places. The Storks were the highlight as one parent guarded the two visible chicks which occasionally be seen, through binoculars, poking their heads above the twiggy nest. The first nest in an Oak tree was a few minutes walk from the refreshment stall and allocated parking. 
Full Report

27 May 2021

The sun shined in the afternoon for the first time in over a week, I was able to confirm my first male Adonis Blue Butterfly of the year with frequent Brimstones but not many other butterflies on the lower slopes of Mill Hill. Ten species were seen in the afternoon. I recorded Round-leaved Cranesbill for the first time by the southern entrance  to Mill Hill. 
Adur Skippers

19 May 2021

Swathes of Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, covered the lower slopes of Mill Hill on a cloudy afternoon inimical for watching butterflies. In an hour I spotted to my first of the year Small Heath Butterfly and a few first of the year Dingy Skippers, at least three male Common Blues, a Brimstone Butterfly, a few Large Whites and Red Admirals. At the top of Chanctonbury Drive, the flutter of blue was a Holly Blue. A Buzzard soared overhead  mobbed by the frequent Crows. And a rather scruffy Jay put in two appearances.

12 May 2021
Five o'clock in the afternoon is a bit late in the day for seeing active butterflies on the lower slopes of Mill Hill as most of them will have gone to roost. I did manage to spot my first male Adonis Blue of the year, and my first Small Copper visiting the abundant Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa. A flock of up to a dozen corvids, mostly Jackdaws. were persistently feeding on something amongst the short vegetation on the steeper slopes. A Peacock Butterfly flew down and I disturbed a handful of Grizzled Skippers.
 

7 May 2021

Scrabbling about on the downs is nearly beyond me, my eyesight has deteriorated to such an extent, I  can't spot the butterflies. I can't cycle up to Mill Hill and I get tired very quickly. 

I only managed to spot eleven species of butterfly, the last seven on the lower slopes of Mill Hill: Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Small White, Large White, Green-veined White, Brimstone, Wall Brown, Peacock, Grizzled Skipper, Dingy Skipper, Common Blue. I also noted a few pyralid moths Pyrausta nigrata. Blackthorn had ceased to flower. 

27 April 2021

These smaller than normal flowers were the first of the year.

21 April 2021
My first two House Martins of the year flew over the downs near the houses that were Slonk Hill Farm.

15 April 2021

28 March 2021

The seal took an hour to consume its meal.

27 March 2021

1 - 4 March 2021
An Avocet was reported by several birdwatchers over a few days on the River Adur between the Toll Bridge and the houseboats.
Sussex Ornithological Society Sightings

2 March 2021
A Seal was spotted feeding on a Grey Mullet just north of the Toll Bridge in the gentle sun of the early afternoon.

16 January 2021

10 January 2021
A Dartford Warbler was spotted on a cold and frosty Shoreham Beach.

Adur 2019 Reports

Shoreham Weather 2021

EasyTide (Shoreham)
 

Adur Nature Notes 2013