Lancing Clump (TQ 180 065)
Click on the map to link to the
Friends of Lancing Ring web site

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Lancing Ring and Meadows: 

The wooded clump area covers about 8.4 acres, the large meadow about 19 acres and McIntyres Field a further 9.8 acres. Other large areas including the large steep western bank, the Chalk Pit, Barton's Wood, with various small spinneys and grass outcrops, and the west facing slopes. 

Lancing Ring Measurements

Lancing Ring on flickr

EVENTS

30 October 2010
Friends of Lancing Ring
Coffee Morning
Venue: The Holy Family Catholic Church Hall at Monks Farmhouse in North Road, Lancing
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Lancing Ring Slide Show (by Ray Hamblett)

Index of Events

WILDLIFE REPORTS

For up to date more comprehensive wildlife reports and photographs consult the Friends of Lancing Ring web pages
 

Lancing Ring Reports 2011

2 September 2010
A rather uneventful trek to Lancing Ring found the expected butterflies: Large Whites, Small Whites, Common Blues, Holly Blues, Speckled Woods, Meadow Browns, Small Heath (2), but not much else apart from hoverflies including the large and impressive Volucella zonaria and frequent smaller hoverflies in wood on the eastern border of McIntyre's Field. This smaller hoverfly was distinguised by its crimson head and distinctive epistrophic behaviour. I have identified it as Syrphus. There was a small amount of water in the dewpond after the recent rain. 
Adur Butterfly List

28 August 2010
Six Buzzards soared over Lancing Ring.

Report by Sarah Reeves (Facebook)

8 August 2010
A small group enjoyed a most enjoyable and informative walk around the Lancing Ring meadows led by Brianne Reeves. After a rather grey start to the day, (when we began to wonder just how many butterflies we would see), the clouds parted and we were blessed with blue skies, bright sunshine and the warmth that finally encouraged numerous butterflies to emerge from their hiding places. At least fifteen butterfly species were seen including plenty of Common Blues, with Chalkhill Blues, Wall Browns and an unexpected Silver-washed Fritillary.
Enchanter's Nightshade, Circaea lutetiana, and Figwort, Scrophularia nodosa, were on the list of plants in the Lancing Ring meadows not previously recorded on these pages.

Report from Adrienne Stevenson on the Friends of Lancing Ring Blogspot

This was the first time that the Silver-washed Fritillary has been recorded from Lancing Ring Nature Reserve on these Nature Notes pages. 
I was unable to make this walk because somebody stole my bicycle 

29 July 2010
Despite the overcast sky, I made a visit to the Lancing Ring Nature Reserve where most of the butterflies were resting and needed to be disturbed to be seen. I was pleasantly shocked by the sudden rise of a large light blue Emperor Dragonfly from the top part of McIntyres Field, the part of Lancing Ring Nature Reserve now included in the South Downs National Park. This dragonfly is scarce locally and not seen every year.
This was nearly usurped by two possible Dark Green Fritillaries over my head and then lost in the trees of Lancing Clump. (They flew like Silver-washed Fritillaries.) If confirmed this would have been the first time I had seen Dark Green Fritillaries. The dewpond on Lancing Ring Nature Reserve was completely dry. The marginal Purple Loosestrife was flowering through the cracked dry mud. The last time the dewpond was completely dry was in September 2006. 
 

Green Woodpecker on the Lancing Ring meadows	Purple Loosestrife at Lancing Dewpond

The most prevalent butterflies on a bicycle journey to Lancing Ring were very frequent Gatekeepers (>100) and Meadow Browns (75+). Other noteworthy records were from between four and seven amorous Wall Browns, at least five Chalkhill Blues on the meadows of Lancing Ring, some Large Skippers still around, and the first of the blue female Common Blues confirmed.
My first Volucella inanis hoverfly of the year was seen under the canopy of trees that is Lancing Clump. 
Lancing Ring Full Report (including the Full Butterfly Report)

28 July 2010
Three additional species were recorded on my trip to Lancing Ring Nature Reserve. The list of 19 on the day is as follows:
 

Gatekeeper c80	Meadow Brown c35	Brown Argus 2	Large White c20	Red Admiral 5
Small Copper 4	Small Skipper 4	Small Blue 2	Comma 6	Common Blue c25
Peacock 4	Brimstone 4	Dark Green Fritillary 1	Holly Blue c 15	Wall Brown 6
Ringlet 2	Small White c10	Speckled Wood 5	Chalkhill Blue 2

The new species were Chalkhill Blues, Small Blues and Brown Argus. The Dark Green Fritillary was a different specimen I am sure as this one had a chunk missing from the first rear wing. 

Report by Mark Senior

20 July 2010
An astonishing 22 butterfly species were seen on the Lancing Ring meadows over two days as follows:
 

Gatekeeper	Meadow Brown	Marbled White	Large White	Red Admiral	Peacock
Small Copper	Small Skipper	Essex Skipper	Comma	Common Blue	Holly Blue
Small Tortoiseshell	Brimstone	Small Heath	Green-veined White	Wall Brown	Dark Green Fritillary
Ringlet	Small White	Speckled Wood	Painted Lady

One small patch of Bramble was unusually attractive to butterflies today with no less than 13 species attracted to it in a 15 minute watch. This included a Dark Green Fritillary which gave me some very good close views and five Common Blues. 

Report by Mark Senior on Sussex Butterfly Reports

This is the first positive record of a Dark Green Fritillary on Lancing Ring on these Nature Notes pages. 

19 July 2010
In a couple of hours on the Lancing Ring meadows I recorded 19 species as follows:
 

Gatekeeper 200+	Meadow Brown 60 +	Marbled White 8	Large White 20	Red Admiral 8	Peacock 10	Ringlet 6
Small Copper 3	Small Skipper > 15	Essex Skipper	Comma 4	Common Blue 7	Holly Blue 4	Small White 8
Small Tortoiseshell 1	Brimstone 1	Small Heath 2	Green-veined White 1	Wall Brown 1

The six Ringlet were a scarce recording from Lancing Ring.

Report by Mark Senior on UK Butterflies

8 July 2010
In the afternoon, a trip to Lancing Clump recorded four Comma Butterflies, frequent Meadow Browns, a Small White, one Green-veined White, at least one Gatekeeper, occasional Marbled Whites, occasional 6-spotted Burnet Moths, and on McIntyre's field there were frequent Small Skippers. Meadow Grasshoppers, Chorthippus parallelus, were noted in their hundreds. 
On the Lancing Clump meadows, well over a hundred butterflies fluttered about; I added very frequent Marbled Whites, very frequent Meadow Browns, very frequent Small Skippers, a few definite Large Skippers, frequent Red Admirals, a definite pristine Wall Brown, more 6-spotted Burnet Moths, at least one Peacock Butterfly around the flowering Hemp Agrimony, and just the single Holly Blue. In the open in the north-west of the Nature Reserve there was at least oneSmall Heath Butterfly. In the wooded area there were two very worn Speckled Woods. There were also two possible sightings of Ringlet Butterflies, one in the shrubbery next  to the bridlepath, and another one around the Hemp Agrimony. If I was able to confirm these restless butterflies, they would be my first record from Lancing.
 

Small Skipper	Marbled White	Red Admiral

Two male Broad-bodied Chasers, Libellula depressa, chased each other over the Lancing Clump dewpond puddle. A Southern Hawker cruised over the Lancing Ring meadows and was later seen to the west of the dewpond. The white variety of Flax was growing in the agricultural fields to the west of Lancing Clump. 
Full Butterfly & Moth Report
Adur Dragonflies

21 June 2010
Cycling back from Worthing and walking through the Lancing Ring meadows, the first two butterflies recorded were two strong flying Small Tortoiseshells followed by two restless Large Skippers visiting Bramble flowers on the narrow path due north of Upper Boundstone Lane and the Cemetery. In the late afternoon a passage trip through the meadows was unproductive with just three Meadow Browns, two male Common Blues and a Speckled Wood near the main Copse. 
 

Unidentified white moth on Yellow Rattle	Pyramidal Orchid in McIntyre's Field

From a distance McIntyre's Field was covered in the yellow of Bird's Foot Trefoil, and close-up hundreds of of small moths and butterflies could be disturbed in the long grass meadow. The numbers were exceptional and included frequent Common Blue Butterflies of both genders, frequent Burnet Companion Moths, numerous Common Carpet Moths, and at least a dozen moth species that had to remain unidentified because of lack of time and knowledge. The much larger Meadow Brown Butterflies were also frequently seen. 
 

Bird's Foot Trefoil on the low fertility upper meadows of the Lancing Ring Nature Reserve

A male Broad-bodied Chaser (dragonfly), Libellula depressa, rose from a dry mud patch next to Lancing Ring dewpond and flew into the scrub where it hid. Two each of Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies and Large Skippers were seen in the path to the meadows by the Cemetery on the southern part of the Nature Reserve. 
Full Butterfly Report

18 April 2010
Two Green-veined White Butterflies were spotted (the first of the year) in the north-west corner of Lancing Ring Nature Reserve, outside of the clump of trees. House Martins flew overhead. 

Lancing Report by Ray Hamblett

Adur Butterflies: First Dates

7 January 2010
 

Snow carpeted the countryside averaging a depth of 95 mm on Lancing Ring after the overnight snowfall. The snow on the east side of the trees indicated the direction of the wind during the snowfalls. A Yellowhammer flew over the snow covered Chalk Pit.  Under the clump three Magpies squabbled and a Grey Squirrel ran over the snow and up the trunk of a Beech tree. 
Full Weather Report

Lancing Ring Dewpond

Lancing Ring Reports 2009
Lancing Ring Reports 2008
Lancing Ring Reports 2007
Lancing Ring Wildlife Reports 2006

 

Aerial Map
Lower Adur Levels (MultiMap) including Lancing Clump and Mill Hill
 
 

EMail Address for sending in wildlife reports from the lower Adur valley
Only a selection will be included and only reports with the name of the reporter

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Mill Hill (Link)

History of Lancing (Ray Hamblett)

Lancing Ring

Dewpond

Lancing Ring & Mill Hill Information 1 (requires Acrobat Reader)
Lancing Ring & Mill Hill Information 2 (requires Acrobat Reader)