Saltings
Field
Freshwater
Streams, near Botolphs
2004
24
July 2004
A
Peacock
Butterfly is seen in this area, but no
damselflies or dragonflies. A Grey
Heron was also spotted.
21
July 2004
3-spined
Sticklebacks are
much handsomer than the 10-spined Sticklebacks,
especially
when the larger of the two freshwater native species are in their breeding
colours, in a stream by an Oak Tree
next to the South Links cyclepath north of Botolphs. They could be seen
with Whirligig Beetles
and Water Skaters
on the surface in a patch of clear water; a dragonfly
larva, Lesser
(Frontswimmer) Water Boatmen and a drowning
grasshopper were submerged. There was a red
Ruddy
Darter, Sympetrum sanguineum,on
the bank next to what looks like a set-aside field full of Ragwort
and Creeping Thistles.
There was an umbellifer
in the stream itself rising above the shallow (30 cm depth) water. Gatekeeper
Butterflies were found in this area and
they were everywhere in the hedges along the cyclepath. A Moorhen
ran across the dense vegetation, including the floating Duckweed,
that covered 98% of the stream. This water bird disappeared and could not
be seen on the edge; this was despite the Environment Agency having just
mechanically removed most of the the streamside vegetation. A passer-by
said that the stream had large open patches of clear water, without the
edge to edge Duckweed
just one week earlier
Adur
Levels
Adur
Damselflies
and Dragonflies
This
was the first record of a Ruddy Darter,
Sympetrum
sanguineum, on these Nature
Notes pages from this stream. This dragonfly
has probably been overlooked before and mistaken for a Common
Darter.
Aquatic
Plants
LINKS:
Adur
Levels 2004
Freshwater
Habitats
Narrow
Field next to the stream between the Steyning Road and the Waterworks
New
Monks Farm 2004
Garden
Pond Page
Plant
Adaptations to Aquatic Life
