Overview

Shoreham Beach is a shingle spit about three miles long, separated from town of Shoreham-by-Sea (Sussex) by the River Adur, which been has deflected eastwards by the longshore drift over the centuries. Wood and rock groynes have been installed to stabilise the moving shingle and to minimise erosion and prevent flooding. 

Link to the Coastal Reports for 2007

19 December 2006

14 December 2006
Thirty Greenfinches were seen on the shingle above high tide mark by Lancing Beach Green. Over the intertidal area two separate Crows were dropping shellfish from a height on to the pebbles below. The strandline was littered with the usual mixture of mollusc shells and seaweed and included lumps of lignite (sea coal). 

6 December 2006

A Red-legged Partridge was seen wandering around the tiny paved gardens in Emerald Quay on Shoreham Beach. This bird wandered around and did not fly off immediately. 

This bird could have been displaced from New Monks Farm, Lancing, where soil and rubble is being dumped on the privately owned land to the west of Shoreham Airport. This is speculation as my records show Grey Partridges from that area. 

29 November 2006
About a hundred small Goose Barnacles, Lepas anatifera, were seen washed up attached to a broken plastic fish box on the strandline of Shoreham Beach (Ferry  Road access) after the recent southerly gales. 

A very bright young Pipit was seen close-up on the verges of the disused road and the toilets near the Beach Huts on Shoreham Beach. This small brown brightly speckled bird had pronounced speckled breast with no patches and fawn-grey coloured legs before it flew upwards to a height of about four metres, called with a little sqeak and was away showing its white tail feathers. This was certainly a Meadow Pipit. 

22 November 2006
A flock of 13 Turnstones were feeding on the seaweed strandline at high tide on Shoreham Beach 30 metres or so east of the Church of the Good Shepherd. They flew off in twos and threes on my approach and then the whole flock twittered and flew in a semir-circular route over the sea and on to the pebbled beach to the west of the rock breakwater. 

15 November 2006
A flock of about fifty Greenfinches swooped over the pebbled beach above the high tide mark next to Lancing Beach Green, and landed amongst the Dock.
Construction of the Sustrans path west of Lancing Sailing Club seems to have resulted in the removal of the row of Tree Mallow on the northern side. The Right of Way improvements may also have resulted in the removal of Rock Samphire to the east as well. 

9 October 2006
A Yellow Wagtail visited a flooded (temporary lagoon with seawater) in a south Lancing garden (by Lancing Beach Green).  (This, perhaps, could have been a Grey Wagtail?)

4 September 2006
Two Clouded Yellow Butterflies were seen near Lancing Sailing Club (west end of Widewater), the second of these two immigrant butterflies visiting a Common Mallow and Dandelion in quick succession. The only other butterflies on the beach seen were Large Whites.
Butterfly Report

A Rabbit under the beach Huts by Lancing Beach Green was seen with healthy eyes and devoid of any  illness. 

24 August 2006
The frequent Large Whites fluttering around the Sea Kale on Shoreham Beach are much bigger than the white butterflies inland (identified? as Large Whites). 

16 July 2006
Above the high water mark the Large White Butterflies were common, seen at a rate of over one a minute from Shoreham Beach all away along to Lancing Beach Green. When I down on the shore rockpooling on the low tide, one Large White Butterfly even flew past my ear. Most of them fluttered around the Sea Kale. There were frequent Red Admirals that seemed to be flying in off the sea and Gatekeepers that were residents in the vegetation around Widewater Lagoon and a few on Shoreham Beach. One orange butterfly flew in off the beach at low level (waist height) at such a rate of knots that I could not tell if it was my first thoughts of a Small Tortoiseshell or was it a Comma Butterfly? To follow it would mean cycling through a throng of people, so I missed it. 
Adur Butterfly List 2006
 

13 July 2006 A quick look at Shoreham beach seemed to show a reduction in the numbers of Childing Pink flowers as somebody had cut the vegetation on the sand outside the Harbour Club, and only one of the frequent flowers blowing in the breeze was doubled. Large White Butterflies were frequent over the beach everywhere with the occasional Small Skipper on Silver Sands.

Only two Wall Lizards, Podarcis muralis,  were seen on the Old Fort flint walls in the warmth of the midday sun. One of the lizards had lost its tail and  the the new one was not patterned. It climbed readily on the vertical brick and flint.

24 June 2006
In the weekend sunshine the following plants were noted in flower for the first time on Shoreham Beach (although they would have been in flower for at least a week); Childing Pink, Petrorhagia nanteuilii, only single flowers so far, on Silver Sands, and Tree Mallow, Silver Ragwort and White Stonecrop just to the west of the Old Fort. Biting Stonecrop, Viper's Bugloss, Sea Kale and Sea Campion was still in flower, but Red Valerian, Thrift and Kidney Vetch were showing signs of ending and were past their best. The Childing Pink seemed more numerous than last year, but far short of the maximum numbers I had seen. 
 

There were hundreds of Chorthippus grasshoppers, very lively and these were mostly tiny to small nymphs over the grasses and stonecrops on the shingle and jumping on to the Silver Ragwort and Sea Kale leaves as well. They did not stridulate and could not be heard. These were almost certainly Common Field Grasshoppers, Chorthippus brunneus.
 

Sea Campion

At the Old Fort I made a very brief reconnoitre and I spotted three Wall Lizards, one large adult (much bigger than any Common Lizards I have seen) and two small one ones hiding in vegetation at least 40 cm up the flint wall. This was the highest I had eve seen them climb the wall. 

16 & 18 June 2006
A new plant in flower on the shingle of Kingston Buci Beach was the unattractive Prickly Lettuce.
Images

15 June 2006
A chirm of three Goldfinches flew around the beach huts on the seaward side of Shoreham Beach Green in the early morning. Viper's Bugloss was noted in splendid flower. 
Shrimping TV Report

10 June 2006
Shoreham Beach Nature Reserve was declared at Adur World Oceans Day 2006. 
 

3 June 2006 A faded immigrant Painted Lady Butterfly landed on a Sea Kale flower on the shingle of Shoreham Beach above the high tide mark.  Shingle & Saltmarsh Flora & Fauna (flickr) Adur Butterfly List 2006

23 May 2006
After the gales of the previous day, I was blown about by a Strong Breeze (Force 6) looking to see if anything interesting had been washed up on the strandline. Seaweed was being washed in with every roller, mostly kelp, mostly Sea Belt, Laminaria saccharina, and large deposits were made at the Old Fort beach, but there did not seem all that much more than normal on the strandline along the rest of Shoreham Beach.
Shoreham Weather Page
 

Three Small White Butterflies flew around the mixed vegetation on the path leading to the beach from Ferry Road, but they were not seen around the Sea Kale which was beginning to flower. Black Medick, Thrift, Dove's Foot Cranesbill, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Bulbous Buttercups and Sow Thistle were noted in flower, but I was not listing the plants. Four Wall Lizards were seen, including two bright green adults, one out in the open and another underneath a boulder. I was too slow with my camera again. 

20 May 2006
It looks like that the Starry Clover has disappeared from the Old Fort area of Shoreham beach, but it will have spread to gardens and it may return from dormant seeds. The Adur Council construction vehicles or dumping of garden rubbish could be responsible.

16 May 2006
I went to look for the Starry Clover on Shoreham beach near the Old Fort, but I could not find any. There was some trefoil, probably Hop Trefoil or Black Medick? Thrift was in flower and Dove's Foot Cranesbill and Mouse-ear and other small plants, and a single Viper's Bugloss was seen on the edge of an Old Fort Road roundabout. 
 

I think that the small marks* on some of the leaves indicate Black Medick, rather than Hop Trefoil	Bulbous Buttercup This particular flower seems to have a double layer of petals	Thrift with a tiny fly

*The definitive small point on the blunt end of the leaflets on Black Medick is difficult to observe in this small common and widespread plant. 
Shingle & Saltmarsh Flora & Fauna (flickr)

Then it started raining, so I did not find any Wall Lizards either. A Silver Y Moth was spotted. 

10 May 2006
A Linnet perched on a grass in the same area of the beach as two days ago and was instantly recognisable in the good light without binoculars. 

8 May 2006
A single Linnet was putting on a spectacular aerial display by the beach huts on Shoreham Beach (south of Beach Green). It called and then flew vertically up into the air calling continuously. The white on its tail feathers could be clearly seen. 

3 May 2006

At least ten adult Wall Lizards, Podarcis muralis, were spotted on the Old Fort, Shoreham Beach, and they were very skittish, nine of them appearing much larger than Common Lizards, Zootoca vivipara, and nine of them a fairly bright green in colour. They seem to move in a more upright fashion less skulking and serpentine than the native lizards. All their tails were seen to be intact as they skittered rapidly over the flint wall or pebbles to the crevice holes. The lizards were widespread along the west and south facing flint walls. A colony of Meadow Ants was noted and I thought I heard the rustle of another lizard nearby. 
Lizard Comparisons
 

Small White Butterflies were frequent on Shoreham Beach by the Old Fort. Thrift was beginning to flower and there was even a few clumps of Bluebells on the beach where earth had been dumped on the shore. On the high tide mark, Orache was pushing up green shoots through the pebbles.
Two Linnets called and chased each other, flying around amongst the Dock and Sea Kale.

20 April 2006
There was a small flock of at least five Linnets on the ridge of the pebble shore above high tide mark and this bird seemed both incongruous and they looked like immigrants. One of the birds was collecting some white feather type material in its beak. Another one was displaying which looked like courtship, flying up into the air like a Meadow Pipit and then swooping. These birds had small beaks. From the front they resembled Chaffinches in appearance, but not from the rear, where they looked more like Sparrows. They were rather flighty and moved along the beach after a couple of minutes. The light was not good enough to see any white in their tail feathers. Another possible Linnet was seen on the playing fields west of Church Green, near Kingston Buci. 
NB. At first they did not appear to be Linnets because their markings and beak size did not appear to be familiar. I considered Redpolls, but ruled them out because they are only reported as occasional winter visitors. Linnets are regular immigrants in spring. (They have been recorded before at the beginning of May on at least two occasions.) 

5 April 2006
No lizards were seen on the walls of the Old Fort under the weak sunshine. Queen Buff-tailed Bumblebees were seen every ten minutes or so on the Worthing, Lancing and Shoreham beach cyclepath, altogether about twenty were seen at regular intervals.
Adur Bumblebees 2006

9 March 2006
The following newsworthy birds were seen in the Adur area: Black Redstart (2), Rock Pipit (1), Purple Sandpipers (2) on the shore zone, and Great-crested Grebes (7) at sea.

28 February 2006
A single Great-crested Grebe with a very white breast was seen diving under the water off Weald Dyke, Shoreham Beach, in the shallows on an ebbing tide just below the rock sea defences. 

13 February 2006
Just the usual, seaweeds, Whelk egg cases and shells (no more than a few dozen egg cases between two of the rock groynes), Sting Winkle shell, (one), Venerid shell (one) and the usual thousands of Slipper Limpet shells (usually smelly with flesh) and mussel shells, were washed up on the strandline on the Shoreham beach pebbles by the beach huts south of Shoreham Beach Green. The Slipper Limpet shells had not attracted the attention of forgaging gulls and other birds. 
 

 Sting Winkle shell, Ocenebra erinacea

The live gastropod usually has a pale creamy colour shell. 
 

BMLSS Molluscs
BMLSS Marine Gastropods

Coastal Wildlife 2005 (Link)