Information
Coastal saline lagoons and the Water Framework Directive (NECR039)
A number of coastal saline lagoons in the UK have been identified as ‘water bodies’ under the Water Framework Directive. This means that there is a requirement to develop type-based classification tools to help assess their ecological status. This study was commissioned by Natural England to inform future work of the UK Technical Advisory Group and Marine Task Team in developing a national consistent approach to the assessment of lagoons under the Water Framework Directive.
World of Widewater
(Community Group)
Reports
7 October
2010
Six
Cormorants
rested on the island at the eastern end of Widewater Lagoon, whilst a seventh
Cormorant
dived under the surface and caught and at the surface swallowed a dozen
small fish in as many minutes. Two Little
Egrets fished in the shallows. The
gauge
by the bridge over Widewater Lagoon
registered 1.65 metres, the highest I have ever recorded.
Cormorant
Video
6 October 2010
Lizards basked in the brief period of sunshine. Over a dozen juvenile Wall Lizards, Podarcis muralis, skittered amongst a few rocks near the Old Fort and over the flint walls at the far eastern end of Shoreham Beach, with two much larger adults seen and there were probably many more present.
17
September 2010
A
Cormorant
dived under Widewater Lagoon and surfaced with a flatfish
too large for it to swallow.
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Eight white butterflies were seen half of them Small Whites and the larger four were Large Whites and six of them were seen flying strongly in a south-north direction from the shingle beach over the cyclepath (path from Worthing to Shoreham Beach that runs parallel to Widewater though south Lancing). Thrift was still in flower with Dandelions on the grass verge of Widewater north of the bridge where a Little Egret was disturbed whilst fishing in the shallows.
6 September
2010
A
couple of plants ofSea
Aster were
noted with their lilac
petals of the rayed versions on
the Adur mudflats to the west end of the main houseboat
moorings. Sea
Asters, Aster
tripolium,
exist as rayed and rayless varieties but only the former have long blue
or white florets. The rayless form is
yellow with just disc florets.
1 September
2010
A
Red
Admiral Butterfly flew straight in off
the sea between the beach huts at Lancing Beach Green and a smaller than
normal one was seen in a road nearby.
12
August 2010
Arching
its neck forward, on the mid-tide line at Silver
Sands, a Little Egret
swallowed and engulfed a small fish every 30 seconds, whilst the nearby
Cormorant
stood motionless for five minutes before taking to the water and diving
under. The small fish were probably first year Bass
in very shallow water. They could not be identified through the binoculars
but the fish were taken from the surface waters rather than the bottom.
Possibly, they could have been Sand Smelt.
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Over the shingle near the Old Fort, the white rear of a Wheatear was easily spotted as it flew around prior to emigration south. On the flint carnot wall a single adult Wall Lizard, Podarcis muralis, ruffled the vegetation as it skittered into hiding. A Large White Butterfly fluttered around the Sea Kale and a Common Blue Butterfly landed on the pebbles by the Old Fort. The Common Blue Butterfly seen and shown in the photograph above may be the variety/aberration Polyommatus icarus ab. arcuata. A vanessid butterfly took to flight before I stepped on it. It flew away too quickly to identify.
11
August 2010
A
very quick visit to Kingston Beach to collect a few mussels
and I spotted scores of Rock Goby,
Gobius
paganellus,
fry darting around in the highest shallow pools
by the groynes plus a single large Snakelocks
Anemone,
Anemonia
viridis, in an equally shallow pool.
This
anemone
is unusual on the shore at Shoreham.
16
July 2010
There
were at least five Little Egrets
on Widewater Lagoon, four congregated together water side of the Tamarisk
east of the bridge. Rock Samphire was
a new plant spotted in flower, by the
wooden fence that separates the Coastal Cyclepath from the shingle
beach at the Lancing end of Widewater.
15
July 2010
A
WSW
Force
5 Breeze made for some appreciable waves
breaking on to the shore carrying significant amounts of weed on to the
strandline.
5 July
2010
There
were six cygnets
following their parent Mute Swans
up a ramp into a grassy back garden from Widewater Lagoon.
2 -
3 July 2010
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Viper's Bugloss |
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Coastal Flora, Western Beach, Shoreham, & Lancing East
A native of the Mediterranean region, Red Valerian, Centranthus ruber, has naturalised on Shoreham Beach with spectacular effect in June, with the flower dying down from July. Red flowers predominate but clumps with white flowers occur frequently.
1 July
2010
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On
Silver
Sands,
Shoreham
Beach, about a dozen Childing Pink,
Petrorhagia
nanteuilii, were in flower blowing
about in the breeze, with one clear double-flower showing alongside the
Kidney
Vetch. Encroaching vegetation appears
to be been cleared since by last visit in
2008.
A small
Field
Grasshopper, Chorthippus
brunneus, hopped amongst the late
flowering patch of Starry Clover,
Trifolium
stellatum, near the Old Fort, where
a Marbled White Butterfly
flew over the long grass. To the west, on a garden wall of one of the houses
backing on to the shingle beach, and adult intact Wall
Lizard, Podarcis
muralis, skittered
over a boundary wall.
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The
dominant plants on Shoreham Beach near the Old Fort were Sea
Kale (globular seed pods. no longer flowering),
Red Valerian, Viper's
Bugloss, and
Silver
Ragwort. Present in small but noticeable
quantities were Sea Thrift,
the naturalised Michaelmas Daisies, Common
Mallow, Tree Mallow, Yellow-horned Poppy,
White
Stonecrop and Sea
Campion. The small
Biting Stonecrop had obviously been flowering
for some time, but this was the first time I had noted it in flower this
year. The small tree Tamarisk
was
profusely in flower.
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Viper's Bugloss |
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Coastal Flora, Eastern Beach, Shoreham
30
June 2010
Silver
Ragwort was flowering
profusely on the shingle beach directly south of Ferry Road, Shoreham Beach,
and noted for the first time this year.
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Coastal Flora, Ferry Road Beach, Shoreham
14
June 2010
More
wild plants were seen in flower for
the first time this year and on a cycle ride along the coastal cyclepath
from Shoreham to Worthing, I noted Yellow-horned
Poppy and Spear
Thistle. Lesser
Burdock was budding. Kidney
Vetch was in flower on Shoreham Beach
west. Red Valerian was
in abundant flower on Shoreham Beach and the swathes were colourfully impressive.
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Kidney Vetch |
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Two Large White Butterflies fluttered over the Sea Kale on Lancing Beach.
Adur
Thistles
Thistles
Gallery
7 June
2010
Shoreham
Beach was profusely in flower
with over a hundred swathes of Sea Kale
and Red Valerian
east of Ferry Road (that runs south from the Waterside
Inn, south-east of the Footbridge).
Silver
Ragwort was budding but not flowering,
but its silver leaves make it look more attractive before the flowers appear.
There were lesser amounts of Common Poppy,
Slender
Thistle,
Tree
Mallow
and
Viper's
Bugloss near the Old Fort where I stumbled
over a small patch of Starry Clover
in flower.
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and Sea Kale |
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Other flowering plants included Lesser Hawkbit, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Common Ragwort, Meadow Buttercups and Thrift.
There was a clump of Squid eggs washed into a rockpool by the Old Fort.
5 June 2010
Adur World Oceans Day 2010
The
twelfth Adur World Oceans Day went well in the
marquee on
Coronation
Green, by Shoreham
footbridge at the High Street end on the opening Saturday of the Adur
Festival. Len Nevell
of the British Marine Life Study Society was
there with the usual exhibition of lobsters and crabs.
World
Oceans Day on Facebook
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an opportunity they may not get. It is an educational event
with an opportunity for children to participate in the interactive activities."
Quote by Andy Horton (British Marine Life Study Society)
3 June
2010
There
were thousands of Moon Jellyfish, Aurelia
aurelia, in the Shoreham
Harbour canal section with hundreds of different sizes seen from the
lock gates.
25
May 2010
Tree
Mallow and
Purple Toadflax were noted in flower for
the first time this year on the verges of the coastal
cyclepath to the west of Lancing Sailing Club
and Common Mallow
was also noted although I had seen it before this year. Not yet in flower,
but the strands of the alien Japanese Knotweed
surrounded the Information Booth at the eastern end of
Widewater.
Worthing
Beach Intertidal Report
22
May 2010
Sea
Thrift was flowering plentifully on Shoreham
Beach by the Old Fort. Sea Kale
was in flower on some clumps by the Old Fort but was yet to flower on some
parts of the beach, where Red Valerian
was flowering but not yet profusely.
21
May 2010
My
first shrimping
outing of the year using my smaller three foot wide shrimp net on the medium
tideon
Lancing Beach (Widewater West) yielded a rather poor 30 or so Brown
Shrimps,
Crangon crangon,
and a notable young Turbot,
Psetta
maxima.
Full
Shrimping Report
Sea
Campion was noted in flower for the first
time between the Widewater Cyclepath and the wooden groyne-type fence.
Black
Medick was also seen.
20
April 2010
In
the weak sunshine the first reptile of the year was spotted on the wall
of the Old Fort, Shoreham Beach: an adult Wall
Lizard, Podarcis
muralis, (with an intact tail) skittered
into a hole the size of a flint cobble on the south-facing wall. A single
Thrift
flower
was seen, the first of the year, although many others were budding and
expected to flower any day now.
Adur
Lizards
3 April
2010
A
dead Harbour Porpoise
was washed up on the bank of the River Adur about
100 metres north of the old Toll Bridge.
There was a large range of seven metre tides measured by WXTide at Shoreham Harbour (Kingston Beach), from 6.9 metres high to minus 0.1 metres below Chart Datum.
BMLSS Tides
11
January 2010
A
Redwing
flew under a Tamarisk
bush in a shingle garden on Lancing Beach (to the west of Lancing Sailing
Club). This bird species moves south to Sussex
in severe winters. Widewater Lagoon was only
partly frozen with large areas (75%) of open water.
RSPB
Redwing
8 January
2010
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