2022
 

3 November 2022
Scarcely more than a score of Lapwings roosted on the low tide mudbank north of the Toll Bridge.

21 October  2022
 
 

22 September  2022
I cycled the Downs Link from Old Shoreham to the Cement Works in the last of the dry weather of the parched summer. Hawkweed Ox-tongue dominated patches of the uncut verges. A Southern Hawker patrolled Erringham Gap,
 

Hawthorn was abundantly in berry amongst the hedgerow boundaries of the former railway track.

Adur Thorn
 

10 September 2022

Duke of Argyle Tea Plant
 

19 August 2022 The White Storks returned to the viaduct early in the morning and then, sadly, the first train (of very few today) startled them; they flew in a panic, and one was killed, falling into the river in a shower of feathers. Report by Sean Finnegan 18 August 2022 About fifteen White Storks roosted on Adur Railway Viaduct this evening during a railway strike. Illustrated Report by Sean Finnegan on Adur Valley & Downs facebook

White Storks on the Viaduct Photograph by Sean Finnegan

24 July 2022

There were hundreds of Common Blue Butterflies in the parched long grass verges of the Downs Link between Old Shoreham and the Cement Works, with a Comma and a Brimstone.

29 June 2022

20 June 2022

Common Mallow, Wild Carrot, Bristly Ox-tongue
Downs Link by Waterfront

12 - 15 June 2022

Summer has arrived with a new profusion of flowers on the verges of the Downs Link between Old Shoreham and the Cement Works. Hundreds of Ox-eye Daisies were blown about on the breeze (Force 5). On a cloudy afternoon, there were two Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies, a faded one at the first river meander north of Old Shoreham, and a fresher one just south of the Cement Works.
Adur Daisies

29 May 2022

Early May 2022
There have been numerous reports of up to three Whimbrels on the River Adur at low tide within the Shoreham boundaries.

24 April 2022

In breezy conditions. too breezy to be inimical for butterflies I visited the relatively sheltered Waterworks Road but it was still too blustery for photography. There was at least one male Orange-tip, 5+ Brimstone Butterflies, one Peacock, and most conspicuously about half a dozen smallish white butterflies, some of them recognised as Green-veined Whites.

21 April 2022
Fluttering amongst the green canopy, a few Holly Blue Butterflies were my first of the year over the southern footpath section of the Waterworks Road, Old Shoreham.  Down much lower amongst the vegetation on the verges there was a Brimstone Butterfly on patrol, at least one smaller than normal dark brown Speckled Wood and a few restless Orange-tips and Green-veined Whites.
Adur Butterflies 2022

19 April 2022
My first Large White Butterfly of the year visited White Deadnettle near Waller's Pumphouse at the northern end of Pill Box Way and western end of the Toll Bridge.

18 April 2022
There were hundreds of clumps of Cowslips on the verges of the Downs Link from Old Shoreham north to the Cement Works.
 

15 April 2022
In the afternoon on the Adur between the Toll Bridge and the cement works, nine White Storks appeared and circled overhead for quite a while.

A bright yellow Brimstone Butterfly fluttered past the earth bank at Cuckoo's Corner in the sunshine (16°C). I spotted my first fish of the year, a few 3-spined Sticklebacks in the nearby Ladywells Stream. Wayfaring Tree was in flower. English Elm, Goat Willow and Hawthorn were in leaf, but Sycamore was just beginning.

14 April 2022
A sunny Waterworks Road verges hosted a variety of wild flowers attracting my first of the year butterflies, bumblebees, ladybirds, and hoverflies.

Wild flowers: White Deadnettle, Dandelions, Green Alkanet,  Cow Parsley, Dogwood, Alexanders.
Butterflies: Orange-tip, Speckled Wood, Green-veined White.
Bumblebees: Red-tailed, Carder
Ladybirds: 14-spot Ladybird, 7-spot
Hoverflies: the distinctive Rhingia campestris, Helophilus and Syrphus, Drone Flies Eristalis.
 

12 April 2022
Garlic Mustard was in flower alongside the Coombes Road near Cuckoo's Corner. It was cloudy and no butterflies were seen. A Grey Heron lifted off from the pasture separated from Ladywells House by a stream. Nearby the first Bluebells showed and the early flowers of Cow Parsley. The new small flowers of Hawthorn were found near Cuckoo's Corner.
 

5 April 2022

My first Bee-fly of the year visited a clump of Cowslips that were very common on the verges of the Downs Link from Old Shoreham north to the Cement Works. The early Blackthorn showed off its spectacular blossom. A Brimstone Butterfly and a Small Tortoiseshell fluttered past on the breeze on a cloudy day.

3 April 2022
With the wind veering to a prevailing south-westerly (Force 4) the blue sky was full of fluffy white Cumulus clouds.

In addition to emerging Blackthorn flowers, I was surprised to come across my first Hawthorn flowers of the year on the airport side of the Toll Bridge. A young Rabbit looked out of place amongst the flowering Mayweed and ruderal ground vegetation on the land disturbed for the construction of Waller's Pumphouse and associated culverts and drainage. My first Small White Butterfly of 2022 settled in the afternoon.

26 March 2022
  ·
An Avocet this morning visited the Adur at 10.45 am a bit south of the Toll Bridge. It wasn't doing much apart from practising standing on one leg!

The post-equinoctial flora graced us with clumps of Cowslips on the verges of the Downs Link from Old Shoreham to the old Cement Works. Pussy Willow was now prominent as part of the hedgerows.
 
 

22 March 2022

A Peacock Butterfly and a Small Tortoiseshell were attracted to a small Pussy Willow tree with its catkins on the road verge on the east side of Erringham Gap. The sun shined pleasantly under a blue sky. 14°C.
Pussy Willow Gallery

18 March 2022
At last, my first butterfly of the year, a distant Peacock Butterfly visited flowering Cherry Plum at the southern end of the Waterworks Road.

10 March 2022
I spotted my first hoverfly of 2022, an Eristalis on the Waterworks Road.

7 March 2022
Under a blue sky with a chill breeze from the east, five Little Egrets waded  in the shallows on an afternoon high tide south-east of the Toll Bridge.

5 February 2022

2 February 2022
 
 

An estimated 150 Lapwings roosted on the mud flats north of the Toll Bridge, Old Shoreham.
 
 

10 January 2022
 
 

An estimated 200 Lapwings roosted on the mud flats south of the Toll Bridge, Old Shoreham.
 

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.

Adur Levels 2021

Tottington Woods

Woods Mill

Knepp