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LOCAL
NATURE RESERVES
Chalkhill
Blue
Butterflies
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Small White Butterfly
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Large White Butterfly
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WILDLIFE
REPORTS
August
2008
The
poor weather continued for the whole month
to be the worst August
in my lifetime of over fifty years.
31
August 2008
On
a day that began with thunder and lightning,
a Wheatear
was seen on the roof of Ricardo industrial building, flying south
following the usual River
Adur emigration route. A Grey
Heron took flight from the bank of the
river at a high spring tide lapping the towpath,
whilst a variety of aeroplanes and helicopters flew and whirred above on
a dull Sunday of the Shoreham Air Show.
Three small birds with distinctive white bellies, disturbed from amongst
the Sea Purslane on
the River Adur
bank near Cuckoo's
Corner, were
later identified as Common Sandpipers.
17
August 2008
The
Toll Bridge was reopened for foot, cycle and horse traffic
16
August 2008
A
larva of the Toadflax Brocade Moth,
Calophasia
lunula, was seen by the railway level
crossing gates in Eastern Avenue, Shoreham.
Adur
Moths
10
August 2008
A
second brood Dingy Skipper fluttering
around in the herb undergrowth at the the northern end of the lower
slopes of
Mill Hill was difficult to
spot on a day on a day too breezy for the flowers to remain still enough
to photograph. I had to virtually to tread on many of the blue butterflies
to make them take flight so the numbers recorded were low: 26+ Chalkhill
Blues
including
a few females, 48+ Adonis
Blues (with no females discerned),
and frequent
Common Blues
(estimated
20+) with almost as many females
as males. Twelve species of butterfly were
seen on an overcast day.
Another
Volucella
inanis
and a noteworthy Volucella
pellucens hoverfly
were seen on the Pixie Path in the north-west
corner amongst the Ivy.
Full
Butterfly Report
Adur
Skippers
6 August
2008
This
nightime
photograph by James George
(Jimbo) tells its
own story
 With
the weather conditions ameliorated enough
to make a trip to Mill Hill worthwhile,
it seemed as though I have missed the main emergence of Chalkhill
Blue
Butterflies for 2008
as the very poor showing of 43 (with one female) on the 1.2 acre transect
on the
lower slopes indicated. There were
nearly as many fresh male Adonis Blues
with 37 noted on the lower slopes. A fresh brood and frequent occurrence
of Speckled Woods
was noted in Buckingham Park, Shoreham. Sixteen
species of butterfly were definitely identified on an overcast day.
Full
Butterfly Report
Chalkhill
Blues Maximum Day Total Annual Chart for Mill Hill
4 August
2008
 In
the breezy conditions, a visit to the downs
was contemplated but not undertaken because of the unfavourable conditions.
Butterflies
were frequent in Shoreham town with ten
species recorded including only my second
Painted
Lady
of the year. Green-veined
White Butterflies were noted at the top
of Buckingham Park. In the twitten between
Corbyn Crescent and Adelaide Square, the large Volucella
zonaria
hoverfly,
was my third seen this year and the first one ever seen in the residential
area of Shoreham.
Full
Shoreham Town Wildlife Report
Adur
Butterfly List 2008
1 -
5 August 2008
It
was too breezy and overcast to assess the Chalkhill
Blues on Mill
Hill.
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