Wildlife Reports

Reports 2022

18 December 2021

An estimated 80 Lapwings roosted on the mud flats north of the Toll Bridge, Old Shoreham.

12 December 2021
I was rewarded for my early morning run! An unexpected but lovely Barn Owl on the Downs Link just south of the Cement Works at 7.45 am.

17 November 2021

Beeding Levels  facebook

13 November 2021
A Kingfisher rested on a small boat by the Adur Activities Centre on a low incoming tide around the middle of the day. Milky Conecaps, Conocybe apala, were seen on the cyclepath verge north of the Waterfront.
Adur Fungi

11 November 2021

3 November 2021

Three Oystercatchers probed for cockles at low tide by the houseboats.

RSPB Oystercatcher
Feeding Techniques of the Oystercatcher

19 October 2021
A small chirm of five Goldfinches fed on Teasels on Adur Recreation Ground by the main part of the river at the northern bank.

11 October 2021

A handful of Lapwings rested on the small amount of mud remaining north of the Toll Bridge by the incoming spring high tide in the early afternoon. Scores of Common Gulls displaced from the mud flats roosted on a ploughed field north of Cuckoo's Corner on the Coombes Road.

On the verge of the Airport Road by Ricardo, Tansy was in flower and a small flock of Long-tailed Tits were heard before they were seen flitting about in the hedges, Bristly Ox-tongue had largely replaced Hawkweed Ox-tongue on the verges of the cyclepath between Ropetackle and Old Shoreham where a clump of Common Toadflax was spotted.

2 September 2021

31 August 2021
A Grey Heron shared the sandbank with three Little Egrets on the first meander of the River Adur north of Old Shoreham.

29 August 2021
A large Grass Snake slithered across the Downs Link over the stream at Botolphs near the River Adur. It quickly disappeared under the Brambles. A Ruddy Dartersettled briefly by the pond at Castle Lane Park, Bramber.

22 August 2021
A Grey Heron took off from Annington Sewer in the early afternoon

13 August 2021

9 August 2021
After the torrential downpour in the morning, the precipitation stopped under a cloudy sky in the afternoon. Two Southern Hawkers (dragonfly) patrolled the hedges of the Downs Link near the Cement Works.

I also discovered a Burdock plant, on the towpath near Cuckoo's Corner, with much bigger flowers than I had ever seen before. This may be Greater Burdock, but this calls into question previous identifications. A Peacock, Red Admiral and a Comma Butterfly were caught by the breeze nearby.
 
 

12 July 2021

Silver Y Moths, small Plume Moths. Small Skippers, Small Heath and Meadow Brown Butterflies were disturbed on the western grassy bank of the River Adur by Shoreham Airport.
On the Downs Link verges at Old Shoreham I noted Mugwort, Everlasting Pea, Hemp Agrimony. Black Horehound and Perennial Sow Thistle.

9 July 2021

As is usual post Summer Solstice the flora on the verges of the Downs Link changed and dramatically was now beginning to be dominated by the Knapweeds and Bedstraws with prevalent Melilot and umbellifers Hogweed and Wild Carrot. The petals of the carpets of Ox-eye Daisies were falling off, but clumps of Mayweed were flowering and the first Rosebay Willowherb showed. Tufted Vetch, Pyramidal Orchids, Creeping Thistle, Common Mallow, Common Ragwort, Yarrow, Perforate St. John's Wort, were all frequently seen with early Hawkweed Ox-tongues and Bristly Ox-tongues, the green growths of Teasels and Weld, and the tall Viper's Bugloss.

All these flowers but not too many butterflies: a few each of Marbled Whites, Ringlets, Meadow Browns and one Large White in the sunshine.

24 June 2021

My first Ringlet Butterfly of the year fluttered around the early post Summer Solstice flowers over the verges of the Downs Link south of the Cement Works. Common Spotted Orchids and Pyramidal Orchids were frequent, hidden amongst the Ox-eye Daisies north of Erringham Gap. (I could not find any Bee Orchids.) Bladder Campion was flowering in small amounts on the verges.

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

15 June 2021
A male Beautiful Demoiselle over the Downs Link south of the Cement Works was the only sighting noteworthy on a sunny cycle ride to Bramber Brooks Nature Reserve.

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.

A group of three feral piglets rooted about, digging up the grass pasture and disturbing the land for a foraging Jackdaw. Later two much bigger pigs were spotted. The route took us into a linear oak wood where we heard the song of a Nightingale which appeared as a distant speck underneath the leafy canopy. Song Thrushes foraged on the ground and two attractive Treecreepers clambered up the blind side of a small tree amongst the more substantial Oaks.

A Stork fed on the grassy ground underneath a big Oak in the centre of what would have been an enclosed field in the last century. The back ends of a handful of Fallow Deer could be seen through the telescopic lens of my camera.

Out in the open we spotted two large deer, without antlers, which quickly trotted behind some scrub, which seemed to be mostly Brambles. These might have been Red Deer.

A compass bearing saw us back in the open as four Storks soared. Although they were in the distance in the greying skies, their soaring was magnificent. A Kestrel flew past. A pair of Fallow Deer appeared. (Of course, the Fallow Deer and the Rabbits did not appear in Britain until the Roman times.)

Botanical interest was minimal: Greater Stitchwort, Red Campion, Garlic Mustard and Hawthorn were flowering in small clumps. The miniature white seeds of Goat Willow filled the air like a snowfall. With the baseness of flowers there was not the frequent bees and flies seen on meadows but a Peacock Butterfly did land immediately in front of us.

Grazing Ecology
 

18 May 2021
It was another cloudy day, but I spotted a definite pair of Green-veined White Butterflies over the Downs Link between Old Shoreham and the Cement Works as well as a Brimstone Butterfly and a few Red Admirals. Hawthorn was beginning to flower in the hedgerows.

Swathes of Crosswort and Germander Speedwell decorated the path verges in distinctive patches.
 

31 March 2021
Clumps of Cowslips were frequently seen on the verges of the Downs Link from Old Shoreham to the Cement Works.
 
 

28 March 2021

The seal took an hour to consume its meal.

27 March 2021

22 March 2021

Two small clumps of Cowslips flowered on the Downs Link verges between Old Shoreham and the Erringham Gap.

15 March 2021

Adur Levels 2020