EVENTS
WILDLIFE
REPORTS
31
July 2014
On
a slightly cooler summer's day, a short detour to the outskirts of north
Shoreham was rewarded with my first Brown
Argus
Butterfly of the year, two Small
Blue Butterflies not seen the previous
day, my first Hornet Robber Fly
of the year, a Southern Hawker (dragonfly),
and
a total of ten species
of butterflies in as many minutes.
The
damaged Garden
Tiger Moth found
on my front path last night was released into my damp front garden. It
crawled into the undergrowth rather than flying away.
Adur
Butterflies: First Dates
Butterfly
& Moth Report
Difference
between Brown Argus and female Common Blues
30
July 2014
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Adonis
Blue
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Meadow
Brown
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An
afternoon circular trip over Mill Hill
produced 18 different species of butterfly,
including a restless 69 male Chalkhill
Blues, the first of the second brood Adonis
Blues, at least three immigrant Clouded
Yellows, a few vanessids
visiting Hemp Agrimony,
ubiquitous Meadow
Browns,
very
frequent Gatekeepers,
frequent Common Blues,
six
Wall
Browns, occasional Marbled
Whites and other resident species expected
on chalk downs in summer.
Full
Butterfly Report
27
July 2014
Common
Newt
22
July 2014
A
cycle ride to Annington Sewer and
back, with a detour to Anchor Bottom, brought
15
different species of butterfly,
but the highlight of the day was a male
Banded
Demoiselle over a stream
next to the cyclepath halfway between Old Shoreham and Upper Beeding. This
blue
demoiselle has a butterfly-like wing, but
like all damsels
landed with its wings closed.
Green-veined
White Butterflies, Small Whites and
a Comma Butterfly were
seen on the warm afternoon, when not noted the previous
day. The Small Tortoiseshells
seen were exceptionally bright in the sunshine but the Red
Admirals,
Peacocks
and
Wall
Browns were all fresh and impressive.
Full
Butterfly Report
21
July 2014
After
the thunder and rain deluges
(a weather front from the south), I
was curious to see what life was out on the
downs and about in the humid sunshine on an
overcast muggy afternoon.
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Small
Skipper
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Dingy
Skipper
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Brimstone
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An
amble up to Mill Hill produced upwards
of 250 butterflies and included thirteen
different species in as many minutes. The
total personal species tally was 17 species
including a first of the year Dark Green
Fritillary, a fresh Wall
Brown, my first two immigrant Clouded
Yellows, a second brood Dingy
Skipper, and about a hundred Chalkhill
Blues (a
week before they are due to peak). Gatekeepers,
Meadow
Browns.
and Marbled
Whites were
all ubiquitous on the lower slopes of Mill Hill. Less than frequent (lower
slopes only, recorded in single figures) were Speckled
Woods, Large
Whites, Small
Heaths, Common
Blues, Brimstones,
Red
Admirals,
Small
Tortoiseshells,
Peacocks
and Small Skippers.
My first of year teneral Common Darter
(dragonfly)
landed in front of me. As I was about to go home I spotted a blue Southern
Hawker patrolling the unruly hedge at
the bottom of the lower slopes.
Adur
Butterflies: First Dates
Full
Butterfly & Moth Report
20
July 2014
The
heaviest
deluge of rain I have ever seen started
at 8:02 pm. It
was still going at 8:07 pm.
It eased at 8:16 pm
but it was still heavy rain and over an inch of extra water was seen in
a bucket (rough measurement at 33 mm)
and my front path doorstep was underwater for the first time recorded.
The thunder and
lightning
was not particularly unusual. The rain eased even more by 8:21
pm and finished shortly afterwards.
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Hare's
Foot Clover
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Childing
Pink
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Childing
Pink
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Almost
all the day was sunny with clouds, overcast at times, and very humid, with
just enough breeze to sway the more fragile plants like the Childing
Pink, Petrorhagia
nanteuilii, at
Silver
Sands,
Shoreham
Beach.
Old
Shoreham Cyclepath
Adur
Wild Flowers 2014
18
July 2014
Rain,
Thunder
and Lightning
started just after 1:00 am.
It was unprecedented in frequency of continuous lightning
this century from 1:40 am to 2:00 am.
Shoreham
Weather 2014
Sheet
Lightning
Photograph
by Natasha Adams
The
Spanish
Plume (Penacho Iberico in Spanish and
Spaanse Pluim in Dutch) is a weather pattern in which a plume of warm air
moves from the Iberian plateau or the Sahara to northwest Europe giving
rise to severe storms. This meteorological pattern can lead to extreme
high temperatures and intense rainfall during the summer months, with potential
for flash flooding, damaging hail storms and tornado formation. [wiki]
Spanish
Plume (NetWeather UK)
17
July 2014
A
Buzzard
soared
over the tree-lined downs west of Steyning.
10
July 2014
The
first flowers of Teasel
appeared and seen on this particularly large specimen spotted at the Withy
Gap lay-by, Lancing. Its height was calculated at 215 cm.
Adur
Teasels
7
July 2014
Chalkhill
Blue Butterflies were seen for the first
time this year and eight were seen in the one
acre transect on Mill
Hill, which indicates the first one was probably in flight a few days
ago. They were early this year.
Marbled
White
After
the paucity of butterflies that often occurs
in late June,
there were fresh butterflies on the wing were very frequently seen on the
downs with Marbled Whites
leading the way with at least 71 seen, but there were as many of both Meadow
Browns
and
Gatekeepers
of the ten species
seen in an hour.
Adur
Butterflies: First Dates
Full
Butterfly & Moth Report
5 July
2014
White
Poplar
Common
Poppies
2 July
2014
A
Hummingbird
Hawk-moth, Macroglossum
stellatarum, flew
straight into the carnot
wall on the south side of Shoreham
Fort. It flew off before my camera could
find it. I noted just two Wall Lizards,
Podarcis
muralis, on the flint walls in the early afternoon and the large
one had typically lost part of its tail.
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Wall
Lizard
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Childing
Pink
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Childing
Pink, Petrorhagia
nanteuilii, was flowering
by Silver Sands
but the double flowers had not yet appeared in full. There were over a
hundred plants.
Adur
Moths
July
2013 Reports
Shoreham
Weather 2014
EasyTide
(Shoreham)
Shoreham
Beach Weather Station
Adur
Nature Notes 2013 |
