Dovecote Bank

including the Mill Hill Cutting, and the top of The Drive, (Buckingham Cutting or Bank) Shoreham

Slonk Hill Cutting 2009 (including the Dovecote Bank & Buckingham Cutting)

7 November 2008
 

The red covering on the steep banks of both sides of Mill Hill Cutting were the leaves of Cotoneaster more than the berries, with the large scrub of Wayfaring Tree.

10 August 2008
 

On the Mill Hill Cutting in the south-west corner, there were four Chalkhill Blues, including two females. There were probably more as the sun was in the others could have been hiding. On the Buckingham Cutting (south), there were at least ten Common Blue Butterflies, including mating pairs.
Full Butterfly Report

30 July 2008
A pristine new Small Blue Butterfly was noted on Buckingham Cutting south, and 15+ Chalkhill Blues were present over the south-west corner of the Mill Hill Cutting. On the Buckingham Cutting (south) a few pairs of Common Blues were mating and there was one colourful female shown in the photograph below.
 

Full Butterfly Report
 

27 July 2008 The second spectacular Volucella zonaria hoverfly of 2008 was seen amongst the waste land at the top of The Drive, Shoreham.

24 July 2008
The best record was two male Chalkhill Blues on Buckingham Cutting north.

17 June 2008
In the late afternoon, it seemed that the butterflies were likely to be at rest as on a passage trip to the Buckingham Cutting, southern bank, only a few of the Small Blue Butterflies were seen in a few minutes. I did spot my first bumblebee-mimic Volucella bombylans var. plumata hoverfly of the year.

4 June 2008
With a brief glimpse of the sun, one Red Admiral, frequent Small Blue Butterflies, and one male Common Blue were seen on passage on the Buckingham Cutting, southern bank.

1 June 2008
On a hazy day, too cool for butterflies to be in flight, 23 Small Blue Butterflies, two male Common Blues and a definite but flighty Brown Argus were spotted mostly settled on the Buckingham Cutting, southern bank, just before midday. A few of the Small Blues fluttered around the Kidney Vetch, but only by staying for about ten minutes did I discover that there were many more than it first appeared. Some were courting and it appeared that mating may be imminent. One Holly Blue Butterfly settled on the south-western bank of the Mill Hill Cutting.
 

Flowers seen for the first time this year included Fairy Flax and four mystery Orchids were seen on the Mill Hill Cutting southern bank for the first recorded in the Shoreham boundaries. There are seven votes for the Southern Marsh Orchid, Dactylorhiza praetermissa, previously: Orchis praetermissa.
Full Butterfly Report
Adur Butterfly List 2008
Full Wild Flower Report
Adur Orchids

27 May 2008
On a day too cool for butterflies to be flying in any numbers, I spotted my first Small Blue Butterfly on the Buckingham Cutting southern side where a few clumps of Kidney Vetch were in flower. It was not the first one of the year as Jim Steedman reported one from Upper Beeding earlier in the month. In the same area I spotted a Burnet Companion Moth.
 

16 May 2008 The first two flowers of Kidney Vetch were seen on the southern bank of the Buckingham Cutting to the west of the large road sign.

6 May 2008

Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, on the Mill Hill Cutting

2 May 2008
A female Pheasant took off from the Buckingham Cutting, south bank and flew northwards at a low trajectory across the main road, but there were no large vehicles passing at the time.
 

11 February 2008 The was an extensive moss covering the southern bank of the Mill Hill Cutting at the western end, and this obscured any leaves of the Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa.  I was surprised by my first Honey Bee of the year. It appeared to be a solitary Queen.  Adur Bees

Red leaves of Cotoneaster

1 November 2007 Mill Hill Cutting, northern bank, east of the bridge.  Holly (male), Wayfaring Tree, Hawthorn, Dogwood, Cotoneaster, Old Man's Beard.

Mill Hill Cutting, view from the Pixie Path, southern bank in the foreground, northern bank (south) between the Holly and the Wayfaring Tree.

29 October 2007
 

11 October 2007
The Long-tailed Tits were most attractive perched on tiny branches swaying with their weight and singing under a clear sky on the Mill Hill Cutting next to the Pixie Path.  A Great Tit was also spotted and a Blue Tit.

3 October 2007
A mixed flock of a dozen Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, at least one Great Tit and some Greenfinches were a welcome and attractive sight amongst the small bushes on the Mill Hill Cutting next to the Pixie Path. There were about thirty birds seen in a few minutes.

11 August 2007
There were a pair of Chalkhill Blues on the Mill Hill Cutting south. Carline Thistle was beginning to appear. It is never that easy to discern when this prickly plant is actually flowering. One pair of Holly Blues were spotted mating in the hedges at Buckingham Cutting south.

9 August 2007
The meadow on the Buckingham Cutting south, east of the road sign has been mown. I assume this to be an experiment as there is no clear cut advantage in cutting the whole of the meadow . The west side of the large road sign has been left as it was with plenty of Rough Hawkbit dominating the appearance.

3 August 2007
Buckingham Cutting south was below expectations with a Common Blue and a Chalkhill Blue sparring in the sunshine. There were also four Speckled Woods in the shaded are at the top of the Drive. There was the first Hornet Robber Fly seen this year.
On the Mill Hill Cutting only seven male Chalkhill Blues were seen fluttering around. One was seen visiting an Autumn Gentian flower. The Autumn Gentian grew out of the chalk rubble.
Full Butterfly Report
 

1 August 2007 On the Mill Hill Cutting south-west 13 Chalkhill Blues (12 males and a female mating) were lively visiting Eyebrights and Hardheads. A third male interloper tried to mate with the female in the photograph.  On Buckingham Cutting south I added one each of a Small Blue and a small male Common Blue.

29 July 2007 The male Chalkhill Blue Butterfly was seen again on Buckingham Cutting south.  Four of the large nests of the spider Agelena labyrinthica were seen, dotted with raindrops.

25 July 2007
I was a surprised to see a large adult Grass Snake coiled up on the Mill Hill Cutting. After a few seconds (before I could get me camera out) it slithered underneath the Cotoneaster by the wooden fence.

24 July 2007
In the intermittent spells of sunshine, I met Dr David Blakesley on Buckingham Cutting south who surprised me by immediately discovering a male Chalkhill Blue which I also saw and this was only the second one I had ever seen here and the first one in good condition at the beginning of the season. The were a few Large Whites fluttering across, a few resident Small/Essex Skippers, a few Meadow Browns, a few Gatekeepers, and 6-spot Burnet Moths. David Blakesley said there were frequent Small Blue Butterflies near the roadside all along from Slonk Hill, so I decided to wait for five minutes before I saw one for myself. Another male Chalkhill Blue was seen on the Mill Hill Cutting (south side).
Full Butterfly Report

The total for one zig zag transect along Buckingham Bank was 2 Meadow Browns, 2 Small Blues, 2 Chalkhill Blues, 1 Small White, one 6 spot Burnet Moth, 2 Silver Y Moths with 2 Speckled Woods and a Holly Blue along the path at the top. Quaking Grass or Totter Grass, Briza media was positively identified amongst about 55 recognised plant species. .

19 July 2007 Marbled White Butterfly on Greater Knapweed

4 July 2007 The plant on the right growing on the Mill Hill Cutting (South-west) was a bit of a problem to species name: Three (including mine) votes for Narrow-leaved Bird's Foot Trefoil, Lotus glaber  One vote for  Common Bird's Foot Trefoil Two votes for  Dragon's Teeth, Tetragonolobus maritimus.  The single flowers points to Dragon's Teeth, but this species has not been recorded in Sussex (according to the Sussex Plant Atlas) and the Narrow-leaved Bird's Foot Trefoil has not been recorded in Shoreham, but there are occasional records in Sussex.

I don't think it's Dragon's-teeth, though I have seen that on some respectable chalk grassland (Noar Hill near Selborne, Hants). Dragon's-teeth has flowers of a much paler yellow, without any of the orange tendency of the Birdsfoot-trefoils.

27 June 2007
Add to the Buckingham Cutting flowering herb list: Perforate St. John's Wort.

20 June 2007
Add to the Buckingham Cutting flowering herb list: Common Centaury and Self-seal.
The Pyramidal Orchids were now flowering in excess of the fading Common Spotted Orchids.
Only seven Small Blue Butterflies were actually seen, but I expect there were more. Two Meadow Browns and a Large White Butterfly fluttered over. The Giant Hogweed was in flower.

17 June 2007
On the Buckingham Cutting (at the Top of The Drive) 11+ Small Blue Butterflies which were seen only after a couple of minutes and later a Cinnabar Moth revealed itself. There was also a Large White Butterfly.

I made a list of the most numerous herbs and wild plants on the open chalk sward on the southern part of the Buckingham Cutting: Ox-eye Daisy, Pyramidal Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid, Self-heal, Restharrow, Kidney Vetch, Yellow Wort, Fairy Flax, Eyebright, Yellow Rattle, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Greater Bird's Foot Trefoil, Hawkbit, Mouse-eared Hawkweed, Salad Burnet, Horseshoe Vetch, Cleavers (Goosefoot) plus others.
Small amounts only of Ribwort Plantain, Lady's Mantle (not flowering, identified by its leaves), Common Poppy, Common Ragwort, Sow- Thistle, Creeping Thistle, plus others.
In the shelter of the hedgerow: Goat's Beard (one) and Herb Robert.

15 June 2007
A Common Wasp nest was disturbed on the Mill Hill Cutting (southern side) by Chanctonbury Drive. At least 30 wasps were buzzing around in the tall grass undergrowth. A a male Meadow Brown Butterfly, a Silver Y and a Cinnabar Moth fluttered amongst the long grasses.
Adur Moths

10 June 2007
The Lepidoptera tally was 19+ Small Blue Butterflies, one Large Skipper (my second of the day and year), one Large White Butterfly, a Cinnabar Moth at least two Yellow Shell Moths and a Burnet Companion Moth all in an area the size of a largish town garden on the Buckingham Cutting (Top of The Drive).
 

Yellow Rattle was flowering well and Agrimony was beginning to flower in the same area where the best show of Kidney Vetch was on the road bank this year.
Full Butterfly Report
Adur Moths

8 June 2007
On the southern side of the Buckingham Cutting, north Shoreham, I spotted the first local Small Blue Butterflies of 2007. At least five were seen flitting amongst the mixed vegetation (including the dew/rain collecting Lady's Mantle, Alchemilla, in the meadow photograph above) and there may have been more as these very small butterflies are easy to miss. Although both Horseshoe Vetch and Kidney Vetch were in flower the butterflies were not seen amongst these plants in the afternoon after the rain. A Yellow Rattle plant was noted. A larger Holly Blue fluttered out of the nearby hedge/scrub. The Dovecote Bank was too overgrown to make a visit.
Full Butterfly Report
Adur Butterflies: First Dates
 

5 June 2007 A broken white bird's egg, about 40 mm long, was discovered on the Mill Hill Cutting. Could this be the egg of a Blue Tit?

29 April 2007 Common Milkwort on the Mill Hill Cutting. On the bare chalk areas, the plants seem to have a rosette of leaves at their base.

27 April 2007
 

This passing study shows the mosses and some of the flora on the south-west part of the Mill Hill Cutting where it leads up the Pixie Path. I do think any of the Horseshoe Vetch was yet in full flower, but the first signs may have been seen. There was just broken chalk in many places sometimes stabilised with Cotoneaster, and sometimes mosses grow on top of the chalk and ecological succession through mosses to flowering plants can be seen. This was part of the original Mill Hill chalk downland before it was intersected by the A27 By-pass in 1971.

13 April 2007
I made a passing note of the flowers seen quickly on the south-west part of the Mill Hill Cutting where it leads up the Pixie Path: Dove's Foot Cranesbill, Dog Violets and Ground Ivy were very common; Common Mouse-ear, Common Milkwort and Annual Wall Rocket were occasionally seen, and I inevitably missed many flowers eager to escape the noise of the traffic. Probably Mouse-eared Chickweed, Cerastium arvense, was there as well.

16 November 2006 The road embankments on both sides of the A27 Mill Hill Cutting (but more on the north) were shining scarlet red with the berries of Cotoneaster and orange-red with the berries of Wayfaring Tree.

27 August 2006 Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, leaves spread over the Mill Hill cutting at the south-east end which would have been on the original Mill Hill.

20 August 2006 About eight Common Blue Butterflies were seen immediately in the Mill Hill Cutting south side at the top of Chanctonbury Drive (SE of the bridge over the A27) with a large Wasp Spider which had weaved its web between the tall herbs. This seemed more designed to capture flies or butterflies rather than its usual observed diet of grasshoppers.          Adur Spiders

On this visit, I attempted to count the Chalkhill Blues on the small garden-sized area of the Mill Hill Cutting (SW end by the path up to the Pixie Path). This was far from easy as the butterflies were very lively and the males were chasing the hidden females. I arrived at a figure of 25 males and 4 females, which was a count, but a bit of an estimate as some had to be excluded in case they were counted twice. Roughly it was the number of blues that could be seen simultaneously with the females added on. The error margin is minus 5 and plus 15, so the total is 24 to 44 seen. Mating activity was observed with three groups of two males and a female simultaneously amongst the prostrate Horseshoe Vetch and Cotoneaster all weaved in together.

On the Buckingham Cutting (south bank) I hoped to find some Small Blue Butterflies amongst the small amounts of Kidney Vetch in flower, but there were only Common Blues with worn blue females. A spider of the species Neoscona adianta was seen again and it might have been the same one as before. An Essex Skipper (it could have been a Small Skipper?) was a surprise and the only one of the day.
Butterfly Report

4 August 2006
At the Buckingham Cutting (south bank) an old male Chalkhill Blue was a first for this area. There were just a few Holly Blues, Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and a Red Admiral.
Butterfly Report

30 July 2006
Chalkhill Blue Butterflies were seen fluttering around on the Mill Hill Cutting, (SW end with the small patch of Horseshoe Vetch) and the number was estimated at least fifty, which was by far the most ever for this small location (medium back garden-sized area). There was too many for an accurate count. Females were included at about five (10%) and the Horseshoe Vetch leaves on this crumbly bank is all intertwined with the prostrate Cotoneaster. One of the Chalkhill Blues (a female) seemed to have something wrong with it. It was static and was shunned by the other butterflies and when courted the other male fluttered off rapidly and this butterfly just crawled and did not fly (even when tickled). All the other butterflies, even the females were very lively. This may have just been a female ready to lay its eggs though (it probably was). I think they may use colour cues to choose the location and in this case it was on the Cotoneaster and needed to find the Horseshoe Vetch leaves.
 

Female Common Blue Butterfly	Female Common Blue Butterfly	Female Chalkhill Blue (probably looking for the Horseshoe Vetch to lay its eggs)

Male and female Common Blue Butterflies, Meadow Brown Butterflies, Gatekeepers and one confirmed intact and quite fresh Small Blue Butterfly on the Buckingham Bank. Brown Argus Butterflies were suspected, but all the photographs indicated female Common Blues. A spider of the species Neoscona adianta crawled amongst the vegetation, including Eyebright, in the same area. A worn Red Admiral settled on Buddleia in the wasteland at the top of The Drive.
Butterfly Report

Brown Argus & female Common Blue ID page

23 July 2006
Over a dozen Chalkhill Blue Butterflies was seen fluttering around on the Mill Hill Cutting, (SW end with the small patch of Horseshoe Vetch). There was one definite female and it was difficult to count them.  A pale white species of moth was on and around Nettles at the top of The Drive, Shoreham, and a fresh looking Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Large White and Meadow Brown within two minutes.
Butterfly Report
 

The first of the spectacular hoverflies Volucella zonaria of the year was spotted on the south side Buckingham Cutting.
Adur Hoverflies

17 & 21 July 2006
Just one male Chalkhill Blue Butterfly was seen fluttering around on the Mill Hill Cutting, (SW end with the small patch of Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa.).
Butterfly Report

3 July 2006
A Gatekeeper Butterfly was first seen this year on the southern bank of the Buckingham Cutting.
Butterfly Report
Adur Butterfly First Flight Times

27 June 2006
A passage visit to the Buckingham Cutting added at least two worn Small Blue Butterflies.

23 June 2006
 

The small spider Neoscona adianta was spotted on Kidney Vetch on the Buckingham Cutting. There were Small Blue Butterflies on the same group of flowers and scores of Pyramidal Orchids. The Dovecote Bank was too overgrown to make a visit.

29 May 2006
On an overcast day, I saw a Large White Butterfly on the Dovecote Bank and again I bumped into my first Common Blue Butterfly of the year, the blue of the male on a Meadow Buttercup. A Silver Y Moth whirred amongst the Stinging Nettles.
Adur Butterfly First Flight Times

18 May 2006
 

A magnificent teneral Broad-bodied Chaser, Libellula depressa, flew over the Dovecote Bank (at the top of The Drive, Shoreham).  I failed to see this dragonfly at all last year. I disturbed a Small White Butterfly and a Silver Y Moth.

29 April 2006
At the top of The Drive, hoverflies were frequent including the first Helophilus pendulus of the year. There was one each of a Speckled Wood, Peacock and Small White Butterfly in the early evening. Two flowers of Ragwort were seen on the road bank.

21 April 2006
I saw my first Wasp of the year at the top of The Drive. Hoverflies were frequently seen in same area which contains discarded garden vegetation. What was most incongruous was a broken Mermaid's Purse at the top of The Drive. A Comma Butterfly rose from amongst the Stinging Nettles. The Dovecote Bank produced another orange butterfly: was it a Small Tortoiseshell or a Comma? Cowslips were in flower. Nursery Web Spiders, Pisaura mirabilis were noted.

22 March 2006
My first genuine wild plant seen in flower this year was the ubiquitous weed the Red Dead Nettle on the Dovecote Bank. Two Yellow Dung-flies,Scathophaga stercoraria, were seen resting.

18 March 2006
A probable Stoat was caught in my car headlights as it slinked across the A27 underneath the the bridge to Mill Hill.

19 June 2005 At the top of the Drive, Shoreham, perhaps 50 metres to the east, there was a large Hogweed plant in flower, easily two metres in height. So large was this specimen it could be the Giant Hogweed?

12 June 2005
There was a flash of the 1742 Yellow Shell Moth, Camptogramma bilineata, but It was at least three minutes walk from the top of The Drive, eastwards before I saw my first butterfly: a Small Blue on an overcast day, followed by a Common Blue on Salad Burnet. I had probably passed a mating pair of Small Blues without noticing them. I only walked a short way along (and not on to the wider herb and grass road embankments, without my bicycle) and then doubled back on my tracks. If you look carefully at the image of the mating Small Blues you can see a small accompanying insect or mite of some sort. This critter remained for a few minutes then disappeared; it is more likely to be a hitch-hiker than a parasite.
Adur Butterfly List 2005
 

There was a handful of Pyramidal Orchids and Spotted Orchids in flower. The highlight was easily a couple of full length adult Slow Worms under a large piece of cardboard (This may have been on the Slonk Hill Cutting.)

Tutsan This colourful shrub has been overlooked before when I cycle past.   ID by Ray Hamblett (Lancing Nature)

7 June 2005
A single Small Blue Butterfly was seen on the south bank of the Mill Hill Cutting but this was mid-afternoon and the area was in shade. On the bank hundreds of Ox-eye Daisies were now in flower and Wild Mignonette was prominent amongst the long grasses. There was a small patch of Grass Vetchling (pic). A Carpet Moth settled on the Dovecote Bank where the first Large Skipper of the year was recognised although they had been seen before on the south bank of the Slonk Hill Cutting.
Adur Butterfly & Large Moth List 2005
 

The path is not well used and at this time of the year it is almost impassable as the vegetation takes over. There was a small red ladybird and it was so small that without my magnifying glass handy I could not even see how many spots it had. The photograph was out of focus because of its small size. It was Subcoccinella vigintiquattuorpunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) the 24-spot Ladybird.
Adur Ladybirds
Adur Skippers

27 May 2005
The Mill Hill Cutting is steep on both sides and rarely transversed by man or beast. The Cotoneaster enables a foot grip on the perilous crumbling northern bank. Horseshoe Vetch was growing profusely in clumps with flowers that some looked like they would be more familiar in warmer climates, and it was befitting this that sunshine in a bright blue sky baked the land with a shade air temperature of of 25.2 ºC.
 

Sainfoin and Horseshoe Vetch	Sainfoin Onobrychis vicifolia	Mill Hill Cutting North west aspect

An Adonis Blue Butterfly fluttered over the Dovecote Bank above the houses on the southern side of the A27. A Holly Blue Butterfly fluttered, but much weaker in comparison.

15 May 2005
The plants amongst the long grass of the south-facing bank are wild plants with the possibility of garden escapes. Generally, the late 20th century Dovecote Estate have small tidy gardens without much scope for rampant untidiness.
 

Common Vetch	Cut-leaved Cranesbill

The locally recorded Geranium plants are:

Geranium dissectum     CUT-LEAVED CRANE'S-BILL
Geranium molle          DOVE'S-FOOT CRANE'S-BILL
Geranium pyrenaicum     HEDGEROW CRANE'S-BILL
Geranium pyrenaicum     PYRENEAN CRANE'S BILL
Geranium robertianum   HERB ROBERT
Geranium pratensis        MEADOW CRANE'S-BILL *

(* although not recorded in the flora list, this plant is common on Mill Hill.)

Geranium UK Checklist

The brown fast flying brown butterflies were later identified as Wall Browns. A Red Admiral Butterfly landed on a Hawthorn flower, a sight I have never recorded before as Red Admirals are not usually flying around in May. The butterfly was old but intact and there were at least three of them. Other butterflies on the bank in a hurried passage through included Holly Blues, and Small Whites.
 

The micro-moth in the photograph is probably 130 Incurvaria masculella. Micro-moth ID suggestion by Martin Honey

1 May 2005
There was a Brimstone Butterfly, two flightly male Orange Tip Butterflies, at least four Speckled Woods and at least two Small Whites seen over the vegetation, including Common Vetch, next to the overgrown footpath on the Dovecote Bank.

29 April 2005
A damp trek over the narrow path that links Mill Hill with the top of The Drive, (which I have christened the Dovecote Bank after the estate, [named after the Dovecote], which it overlooks), produced the surprise Small Copper Butterfly, one Small White and just three Speckled Woods, but there were certainly more of them. There was a Common Carpet Moth as well. There were at least three (possibly four or five) species of hoverflies including Syrphus.
Common Vetch beginning to flower attracted the attention of the Common Black Ants, Lasius niger.
Adur Butterfly Flight Times
 

27 April 2005 This small flower was amongst the grasses high up the bank near the A27 road.  It was Geranium molle with the book name of Dove's-foot Crane's-bill. It is widespread  species around Shoreham and the downs. It can be found almost anywhere.  There were Eristalis hoverflies and Speckled Wood Butterflies at the top on the The Drive, Shoreham.

24 April 2005
The sun was just about out on passage over the Dovecote Bank where there were three Small White Butterflies and one Large White Butterfly and one Holly Blue showed, with four Speckled Woods at the top on the The Drive, Shoreham. On Dovecote Bank there were just a few clumps of Cowslips and a few large Bulbous Buttercups as well.
Adur Butterfly List 2005
 

16 April 2005
Flying insects from the the south-facing A27 road embankment a the top (north) of the Dovecote Estate:
 

Eristalis pertinax Hoverfly	Eristalis tenax Hoverfly	Speckled Wood

Adur Hoverflies
Adur Butterfly List 2005

The Nursery Web Spider, Pisaura mirabilis was common amongst Stinging Nettles on the bank.

15 April 2005
The footpath at the top of The Drive, Shoreham (immediately to the east of the Dovecote Bank):
 

This is a study of similar plants that could conceivably get mixed up. The plants above and below are both Ground Ivy, Glechoma hederacea.
 

Red Dead Nettle Lamium purpureum

10 April 2005
There was what looked like anAndrena Mining Bee (illustrated below) on yellow flowers of Oil Seed Rape on the south-facing A27 road embankment north of the Dovecote Estate, Shoreham. In the first picture (below), there are Pollen Beetles, Meligethes and a Black Ant, of an unknown genus.
 

Adur Beetles
Andrena emergence in Shrewsbury (photographs)

3 April 2005
 

This insect photographed above on a Dandelion at the top of The Drive, Shoreham looks familiar, but it does not seem to have been photographed before.

Note the slender "waist" though. It was not seen hovering. This is a Mining Bee Andrena  sp?
 

Extra Images (Buckingham Cutting to Slonk Hill South)