17
April 2008
Garlic
Mustard was in flower on the roadside
opposite Cuckoo's Corner and verges in the area. On the earth bank at Cuckoo's
Corner, Green Alkanet
was growing in profusion.
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Chaffinches and a Blue Tit were spotted in passing.
8 April
2008
Bluebells
and
Star
of Bethlehem,
Ornithogalum
umbellatum, were seen in flower on
the verges of the Coombes Road south of Cuckoo's Corner. (I
should have double-checked these were not Allium,
but the road was too busy.)
3 February
2008
Immediately,
on entering the car parking area from the towpath, I noticed scores of
small birds flying into the denser trees from the outlying bushes. These
were mostly Chaffinches.
Bounding
through the green arable field north of Cuckoo's Corner (on the Coombes
road north of Shoreham Airport), a buck Roe
Deer, Capreolus
capreolus, was very frisky and I would
have a good view if the road was not bordered by trees. I could see clearly
enough to notice its antlers. I went through the gate to get a better view
but the deer
had disappeared from sight.
28
January 2008
There
were notable numbers of mixed brightly coloured Chaffinches
and Goldfinches
numbering over fifty in a few minutes at Cuckoo's Corner.
Adur
Levels 2008
20
December 2007
A
Grey
Heron took flight from the wide part of
drainage
ditch/stream in the south-east of the arable
field immediately south of Cuckoo's Corner. There were usual frequent small
birds around the trees and bushes at Cuckoo's Corner. I noted Chaffinches
of both sexes and Blue Tits
as I passed.
25
November 2007
There
was a possible Kingfisher
hiding (it flew out briefly) in the mud bank in Ladywells' Stream as seen
from Cuckoo's Corner. I think (from later observations) it was just as
likely to be a Chaffinch.
The
picture on the right is of an Elm Tree
by the side of the road north of Ladywells. These diseased trees reproduce
by suckers.
5 November
2007
There
was a solitary Mute Swan
preening in a field north of Cuckoo's Corner.
22
October 2007
A
Yellowhammer
was spotted north of Cuckoo's Corner.
27
July 2007
Greater
Burdock was beginning to flower
on the verges of the Coombes Road by the Ladywells
Stream.
| 9
July 2007
House Martins swooped over the stubble of the Oil Seed Rape field. |
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| 2
July 2007
This was what the Oil Seed Rape crop looks like after the flowering. It is the seeds that provide the oil. There is another crop called Fodder Rape and a wild plant called Charlock that resembles Oil Seed Rape. |
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28
June 2007
On
an overcast middle of the day, a pristine Red
Admiral Butterfly left the towpath just
before Cuckoo's Corner when arriving from the south. Directly north of
Cuckoo's Corner on the path that runs by the drainage ditch there were
a few Large White Butterflies
and two good condition Small Tortoiseshells
seen and there may have been more as conditions were not very good for
butterflies. I was surprised to see a Musk
Thistle growing on the edge of the field.
Lastly in the field south of the junction to Applesham Farm a Marbled
White Butterfly was seen with its wings
closed on a Spear Thistle
flower.
5
May 2007
Several
noisy Reed Buntings
were heard and seen perching on reeds along the same stream as two
days earlier. They occasionally flew up just like a Meadow
Pipit, which was a bit confusing as I think
there were Meadow Pipits
around as well. A Harlequin
Ladybird, Harmonia axyridis succinea, was
spotted next to the stream, and a small hoverfly
landed on an Annual Wall Rocket
growing from the dried out earth on the edge of the field. This was my
first Scaeva pyrastri
of the year.
3
May 2007
A
Reed
Bunting,
alongside
the drainage ditch between the two fields (one of Broad
Beans and the other of flowering Oil
Seed Rape) directly north of Cuckoo's Corner,
was making such a racket with its varied calls that I went to investigate
to see it flying between the thin reed stems. Then I saw my first two dragonflies
of the year, one a dark blue and the other a familiar blue and green of
what appeared to be a Southern
Hawker. Aeshna
cyanea. However, David Kitching
on UK Dragonflies
(Yahoo Group) thinks it was much likely to be a Hairy
Dragonfly,
Brachytron pratense,
and after thinking about the two dragonflies seen (smaller than the familiar
Southern Hawker)
I feel that this is the correct identification. This is indicated by the
early flight time as well. This is the most reliable record of the Hairy
Dragonfly
on
these Nature Notes web pages.
Cheshire
Damsels and Dragonflies 2007
Then
something shrieked just the once from along the edge of the stream, and
I thought of a hidden Water Rail, but I now think this was unlikely. Butterflies
were mostly Green-veined Whites,
a few Large Whites
with at least one Peacock Butterfly.
My first hoverfly Helophilus
pendulus of the year was seen
at Cuckoo's Corner.
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There
were a few Holly Blue Butterflies,
a Large White
that settled long enough to be confirmed, and my first confirmed Green-veined
White Butterfly of 2007.
I would have not stayed around but for a white that I waited over five
minutes for it to settle on a Garlic Mustard
plant
long enough to make sure it was a Green-veined White (not
a female Orange Tip).
There was a few of these whites around and including at Ladywells
about 60 metres further nort. At Ladywells, there was at least half a dozen
male Orange-tips.
At Ladywells I spotted a few more Holly Blues,
one Red Admiral
and one Small Tortoiseshell.
On the verge by Ladywells (60 metres north of Cuckoo's Corner on the Coombes
Road) I saw my first Red Campion
in flower this year with the female of
the plant which I could not identify immediately.
There was also and my first Bristly Ox-tongue,
Picris
echioides, of the year, and a shrub called
the Greater Celandine
that I did not recognise at Cuckoo's Corner.
My
surmise is that the non-native Greater Celandine
was
actually planted on the bank, mostly covered in Green
Alkanet, by the car park, rather than
actually escaped from a garden.
Butterfly
Report
Adur
Butterflies: First Dates
Adur
Wild Flower Addenda
15
April 2007
The
Small
Tortoiseshell on the towpath SE of Cuckoo's
Corner was in very good condition, unlike the Comma
near the gate to the Oil Seed Rape
field which battered and torn. However, another Comma
Butterfly was fluttering around on Stinging
Nettles in the Ricardo Test Field and I have never seen such a brightly
copper-coloured Comma before.
This colour was a trick of the bright sunlight. The photograph revealed
it to no more brightly coloured than usual.
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11
April 2007
My
first immigrant Wheatear
was spotted on the towpath approaches to the south of Cuckoo's Corner.
Although unmistakably a Wheatear,
this bird seemed to have more black than usual noticed in the white tail
region.
By
the Ladywell Stream on the Coombes Road my first two male Orange
Tip Butterflies of the year could be seen
clearly fluttering in the distance, over a bed of Lesser
Celandine and Dandelions,
60 metres or so north of the Garlic Mustard
flowering just north of Cuckoo's Corner. My first Brimstone
Butterfly was seen fluttering across Dolphin
Road, Shoreham, near the railway crossing gates and about half a dozen
were seen during the day. Over the Oil Seed
Rape field north of Cuckoo's Corner, two Small
White Butterflies were seen as well as
two of the three Peacock Butterflies
seen over the Adur Levels on the sunny
day.
My
first immigrant Wheatear
was seen near Cuckoo's Corner. A pair of brightly coloured Chaffinches
were seen quickly in the bushes around Cuckoo's Corner.
Shoals
of 3-spined Sticklebacks
were seen in the stream next to the Oil Seed
Rape field.
23
February 2007
There
was a noticeable amount of small bird life around Cuckoo's
Corner, on the Coombes Road, where small flocks
of
Chaffinches,
mixed Blue Tits
and Great Tits
and one Great Spotted Woodpecker
were spotted. The birds were shyer than garden birds even though peanuts
and a fatball had been provided and were being visited by the tits. On
the mud of the estuary a Redshank
probed and a Robinwas
spotted nearby.
31
January 2007
On
the wildlife road verge near Ladywell's to the north of Cuckoo's
Corner on the Coombes Road, I spotted a yellow
buttercup-like flower which turned out
as expected to be my first Lesser Celandine
flower of the year.
26
January 2007
A
colourful male Pheasant
was seen near Cuckoo's Corner. And some small mushrooms.
There
were a few (at least three seen) ladybirds
in rapid flight and they looked orange to me, but they could have been
red. Wild Basil
and Field Speedwell were
seen in flower or the field edges with Groundsel
and
Dandelion.
Snowberry
was in in berry on the bush on the Lancing College side of the road
by Cuckoo's Corner. At least two Red Admiral
Butterflies fluttered over in the ten
minutes I walked slowly around. A Clouded
Yellow Butterfly fluttered over the towpath.
Adur
Butterfly List 2006
3 October
2006
A
larva
of the
Harlequin Ladybird is
seen near Cuckoo's Corner on the
Adur Levels.
27
September 2006
On
an overcast day, a handful of Nuthatches
dived amongst the trees over the stream near Cuckoo's Corner.
7 May
2006
My
first Cuckoo
of the year was heard near Cuckoo's Corner.
9
January 2006
Four
Roe
Deer were grazing in the middle of the
arable field immediately to the north of Cuckoo's Corner on the Coombes
Road on the west side of the River Adur. Four deer
are the most I have seen together. They looked like adults and all lacked
antlers. The deer were out in the open at least 150 metres (estimated)
away. The photograph below is rather poor quality because it was also a
murky day. After the deer,
I also saw my first Grey Squirrel
of the year at the base of a tree by Cuckoo's Corner.
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On
the rotten Elm north of Ladydell's, north of Cuckoo's Corner on the Coombes
Road, there were orange fungi growing on the dying trees. These were Velvet
Shank and there was at least one Jew's
Ear. There was also a small clump of Honey
Fungus.
Adur
Levels 2006
22
September 2005
The
vegetation in the stream to the north has been cut back. A pair of Southern
Hawker Dragonflies were hawking about
rapidly. On the towpath to Cuckoo's Corner there were a handful of the
red
Common Darters.
18
July 2005
A
Comma
Butterfly was seen just inside the gate
to the north of the car park. A handful of
Gatekeepers
fluttered around the bushes, with a Green-veined
White (confirmed), Large
Whites and a handful of Small/Essex
Skippers and Meadow
Browns.
23
June 2005
There
was a fresh orangey Comma Butterfly
and a Meadow Brown Butterfly
just inside the gate to the north of the car park.
Adur
Butterfly List 2005
25
April 2005
A
score and perhaps many more Swallows
flew over the fields to the north of Cuckoo's Corner.
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Honesty, Green Alkanet, Forget-me-nots and Dandelions were in flower on the new bank bordering Cuckoo's Corner car park and the road.
17
April 2005
A
bird alighted half way up (at a height of about 3 metres) a narrow tree
trunk at Cuckoo's Corner. I had a glimpse of it for a second before it
ran around the trunk to a blind spot from my viewpoint. I noticed that
its upper wing feathers were a slate grey-blue colour. My original thought
was a Treecreeper,
a bird I not seen on the Coombes Road for a decade or more. However, the
colour hue really indicates a Nuthatch,
a bird of which I am even less familiar with, not having seen one in the
Shoreham area before. In the late afternoon, it was not as colourful as
shown in the books.
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On
the Ricardo Test Bed Field (unofficial private nature reserve opposite,
east of, the Sussex Pad and next to the Coombes Road, southern end) two
adult
Roe
Deer were feeding in the open.
Adur
Levels 2005
10
March 2005
On
the River Adur, the four ducks around the first bend north of the A27 Flyover,
were four Pochards
which are unusual on the tidal river; their maroon heads of the three males
most distinctive. Further north on the bend of the main river by Cuckoo’s
Corner, four Little Grebes,
swam and dived in the flat calm water.
A
pair of Mallards
were on the flooded freshwater stream that ran parallel with the river
south of Cuckoo’s Corner.
There were a pair of Wrens at Cuckoo’s Corner car park, at least a pair of Long-tailed Tits in the naked trees as the Coombes Road crossed Ladywell Stream. There was a screech and I wondered if this could be a Water Rail? The inevitable dozen or so Moorhens were on the lowland field behind the scout’s cabin. In the canopy on the southern approaches to Coombes, there were at least a dozen Rook's nests with their noisy inhabitants.
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These lichens were all on the rickety fence posts. Yellow Xanthoria were on the trees and bushes.
31
March 2004
I
saw my
first bright yellow Brimstone Butterfly
of the year at Cuckoo's Corner. It was very distinctive in flight, but
when I looked around I could not find it again.
26
March 2004
Quite
the most magnificent bird I have ever seen in the Adur area, a pale fawnish-brown
Barn
Owl flew majestically in a straight line
above the Ricardo test track opposite the Sussex Pad Hotel (at the southern
end of the Coombes Road) and then veered into the cover of the trees. The
bird flew at 4:45 pm GMT
in bright sunshine so the view was far from fleeting. I was struck by the
size of this bird as it appeared much bigger than expected, especially
its head which was looking in my direction. (The book size says it is no
bigger than a Kestrel.)
Moorhens
seemed to more numerous than in previous years, a handful noted on the
ploughed fields to the south-east of Cuckoo's Corner. For virtually the
whole of this month there has been a score or more Moorhens
in the private (Lancing College) field next to Ladywell Stream on the west
side of the Coombes Road (see the photograph
above).
17
March 2004
Two
pairs of Great Spotted Woodpeckers
chased
their partners around the tree tops opposite Cuckoo's Corner on the Coombes
road. They made a tremendous commotion as they performed their antics,
with a rattling trill-like call that was repeated at regular intervals.
At times it seemed if two males were competing over one female and at another
time, it seemed that there were two separate pairs. This was the first
time I had seen more than one of these woodpeckers at the same time. There
woodpeckers chased each other up the tree trunks and flew from the larger
branches to another tall tree seen amongst the bare branches until they
were hidden amongst the ivy. There were a mixture of mature and decaying
trees and this would seem a likely breeding area for these attractive birds.
There
was a lot of bird song along the Coombes road, one call a very harsh single
squeal that stood out amongst the melodies and clicking calls. I have no
idea what bird can make such a noise?
14
March 2004
Three
white rumped deer were spotted in the fields overlooked by Lancing College
and close to Ricardo's
test strip (east of the Coombes road at its traffic lights junction with
the A27) at around 10:00 am.
Roe
Deer are frequently seen around the Adur
Levels and these fitted the book description.
February
2004
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The fungi are probably the remains of Velvet Shank |
(February 2004) Lancing College Private Property |
view from the east bank of the River Adur |
1 January 2004
Clumps
of Velvet Shank,
Flammulina
velutipes fungus were growing
on at least three Elm
trees to the north of Cuckoo's Corner.
This
is a typical species of late autumn throughout the winter. It is a remarkable
species since it has its own built in antifreeze and can go through frosts
unfazed and resume dropping spores immediately afterwards. Indeed, its
growth and spore production are stimulated by cold.
Fungi
of Shoreham (with more images and information)
Adur
Fungi: Fruiting Bodies (Monthly Guide)
Fungi
of the British Isles (Yahoo Group)
Adur
Nature Notes (January 2004)