| WILDLIFE
REPORTS
31
August 2005
There
were seven Little Egrets
between the Footbridge and the Norfolk
Bridge on the River Adur estuary on
a low neap tide. Six of the Little
Egrets were resting under the warm sun whilst
a further Little Egret
was patrolling the shallow rock pools left by the receding tide.
30
August 2005
A
clear blue sky without as much as a single white fluffy cirrus
cloud and the day got warmer and by the late afternoon the shade air temperature
was 26.3 ºC.
Twelve
different butterflies fluttered in hardly
a breeze, and a few birds seemed to be on the move, but that was it.
Adur
Butterfly & Large Moth List 2005
27
August 2005
The
first Painted Lady Butterfly
of 2005 in the lower Adur valley (Allen
Pollard had seen Painted
Lady Butterflies on the downs in July)
was seen in the Butterfly Copse by the
Waterworks
Road.
Butterfly
List for the Day
Adur
Levels
26
August 2005
An
Elephant
Hawk Moth Caterpillar was discovered at
at Woods Mill,
Small Dole.
Photograph
25
August 2005
The
Lesser
Marsh Grasshopper,
Chorthippus albomarginatus, was identified
from the eastern river bank near the Toll
Bridge.
Adur
Grasshoppers
Adur
Estuary
22
August 2005
Large
equinoctial spring 6.6 metre tides coincided with
the autumnal weather, in this case warm rain, the temperatures attaining
20 ºC with a 95% humidity, and throughout the day the temperature
exceeded 18 ºC with a minimum 91% humidity.
Rain
was steady in the early morning at 7.37 mm. These are exceptional conditions,
as rarely is the high humidity combined with warm temperatures.
Previous
High Humidity
Shoreham
Weather Station History
21
August 2005
 As
the spring equinoctial tide receded in the early
evening past the Chart Datum point on Kingston
Buci beach, a very small first year Tompot
Blenny, Parablennius gattorugine, was
caught in the prawn net. This are just occasional
catch between the tides, occurring about once every two years or one in
every thirty rockpooling trips.
On
the lower slopes of Mill
Hill, the second brood Adonis Blue
Butterflies were confirmed for the first
time this year.
Butterfly
List for the Day
18
August 2005
The
first Wasp Spider, Argiope
bruennichi, seen this year was a smallish
one that had captured a Meadow Grasshopper on the Slonk
Hill Cutting and had rolled it up in its webbing.
Adur
Spiders
Adur
Grasshoppers
 16
August 2005
I
counted up to 200 Chalkhill Blue
Butterflies
on the lower slopes of
Mill Hill before I gave up counting. The
total for the day actually seen was about 250 (middle and upper slopes
30, Pixie Path/Mill Hill Cutting SW 20). There
were about 20% females and again some of these may have been missed. These
numbers are fairly good for the middle of August
when the numbers of Chalkhill Blues
can fall off a bit. The most numerous butterflies were Common
Blues with 300+.
Autumn
Gentian (=Felwort) was noticed in flower on
Mill Hill and nearby.
Butterfly
List for the Day
It
is harvest time at Old Erringham and everywhere on the South Downs
15
August 2005
Making
a quick count scanning with my binoculars, there were at least eighty Mute
Swans on the Adur estuary
between the A27
Flyover and the Railway
Viaduct excluding the two families with
four cygnets each known to be resident on
the
River
Adur and seen by another watcher earlier in the day by Coronation
Green. The tide was a mid-to-low neap at 3
metres at 4:00 pm.
 12
August 2005
The
unmistakable white rump of the Wheatear
was just confirmation of at least three birds by Widewater
about to embark on their long migration south for the winter.
11
August 2005
About
150 of 300+ Common Blue Butterflies
seen in less than an hour were attracted to a pool of mud and water near
Mossy
Bottom Barn on the downs north of Shoreham.
The downs were dry and parched. An Emperor
Dragonfly flew over the New Erringham
Farm fields.
Butterfly
List for the Day
9 August
2005
On
Lancing
Ring I recorded two butterflies
for two personal firsts for that area: the Small
Blue and the Small
Heath. I also discovered a patch of Horseshoe
Vetch with 25+ Chalkhill
Blue Butterflies.
Butterfly
List for the Day
Subsequently,
a specimen of Volucella inanis
was identified from New Monks Farm seen
on 1 August 2005.
This hoverfly was seen on the same umbellifer as Volucella
zonaria.
Adur
Hoverflies
Hoverfly
Recording Scheme
8 August
2005
Two
Migrant
Hawkers (dragonflies)
patrolled over at the extreme southern end of the Coastal
Link Cyclepath in the town of Shoreham-by-Sea.
These were the first two of the year.
There
were congregation of over a hundred House
Martins near Lancing College chapel. It
appears they are this year's young birds almost ready to leave on their
southerly migration.
Adur
Levels 2005
7 August
2005
The
Salterns
at Upper Beeding (near Bramber) is a medieval antiquity site close to the
River
Adur. From there we walked a little way along one of the side streams
that hold far more interest than the barren
banks of the tidal river.
Butterflies
seen included about 30 Gatekeeper,
2 Red Admiral,
10 Meadow Brown
and single Small Tortoiseshell.
Close the stream a large damselfly
with very dark wings flew out of sight behind a brick building. I took
this to be the Banded Demoiselle;
Calopteryx
splendens. Other blue damselflies were
commonly seen at a distance beyond identification range.
The
highlight was as male Emperor Dragonfly
came over the stream and settled on to the grass within range of a photo
opportunity.
Adur
Levels 2005
Common
Blue Butterflies were out in large numbers
in the meadows on Mill Hill. In their most
prevalent, there was at least one every square metre, and I have estimated
them at a level of about one every five square metres over an area of three
acres giving an estimated population of 2400. About one in twenty was a
Chalkhill
Blue.
Sixteen
different species of butterflies in a single
day is one short of the best ever.
The
first Hummingbird Hawk-moth,
Macroglossum
stellatarum, of the year landed in a Shoreham garden.
A beetle
larva of Drilus flavescens was
seen on the path in the north-west of Mill
Hill.
Butterfly
& Moth List for the Day
Adur
Moths
Fleabane
and Common Toadflax
was noted in flower on wasteland. The first Autumn
Gentian was spotted just coming into flower
on the road embankment of the Mill Hill Cutting near the Pixie
Path (south side of the A27).
Musk
Mallow was recorded in flower in a field on
the Adur Levels.
3 &
15 August 2005
The
mirid bug Deraeocoris ruber
is confirmed in my south Lancing garden
(TQ
185 046).
Adur
Bugs Page
3 August
2005
I
made a quick 30 minutes visit to Mill Hill
for the specific purpose of counting the Chalkhill
Blues on the lower
slopes: the half-transect (400 metres) count came to 143 (compared
to 229 yesterday) including three females.
I did not go to the upper slopes but returned via the path above the ridge
where 33 further Chalkhill Blues
giving a total of 176 for the trek. A surprise was almost immediate sighting
of a second brood Dingy Skipper (butterfly),
only the second second brood I have ever recorded.
Adur
Butterfly & Large Moth List 2005
Adur
Skippers
Male
Chalkhill Blue
2 August
2005
Chalkhill
Blue Butterflies came out with the sun
on Mill Hill, mostly on the lower
slopes. The count of 268
was disappointing for their peak period. They
still represented 40% of the butterflies of seventeen species seen on the
day. Seventeen is the most species seen in a single day this year, and
only one short of my best ever day species total of eighteen.
Butterfly
List for the Day
 |
1
August 2005
In
the damp shade of the Elm Corridor on New Monks
Farm (Lancing), flying insects included the predatory Southern
Hawker Dragonfly and at least six species
of hoverflies, including the spectacular
Volucella
zonaria, Volucella inanis and the
black and yellow Chrysotoxum
bicinctum. |
Adur
Hoverflies
Hoverfly
Recording Scheme
Adur
Butterfly Flight Times
Adur
Butterfly & Large Moth List 2005
|
