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LOCAL
NATURE RESERVES
EVENTS
WILDLIFE
REPORTS
26
March 2008
My
first Brimstone Butterfly
of 2008 was seen
in South Lancing garden feeding on Aubretia
and a bit on Hyacinth.
This
was the second local record of this species for 2008.
Image
Four
Peacock
Butterflies were seen in under an hour
on the downs north of Shoreham, the first
faded specimen at the top of the Pixie Path
to Mill Hill, the second and third left the lower
slopes of Mill Hill, and the fourth
one was in the extreme north-west corner
of Mill Hill Nature Reserve next to the Old
Erringham pasture.
Adur
Butterfly List 2008
23
March 2008
After
the pub closed at 10:30 pm
on Easter Sunday,
I saw a healthy Red Fox
enter the churchyard of St. Michael in Southwick and ten minutes later
another Fox was
scrounging a morsel on the road verge outside Middle Road Open Space in
residential Shoreham.
21
March 2008
A
summer plumaged Black necked Grebe
was seen offshore at Ovingdean in the early evening with the first winter
female Surf Scoter
still present at dusk. Also a couple of Red
throated Divers and Great
Crested Grebes were observed on the sea.
The
Birds
of Sussex web site (hosted by Ian Barnard) is dedicated to all
aspects of Birds and Birding in the County of Sussex. It contains a database
of birds seen in Sussex. For the commoner species a link is provided to
photographs where available.
17
March 2008
After
the storms and the report
of a mass stranding of Common Starfish,
Asteria
rubens, on Brighton Beach, I inspected
the strandline on Shoreham Beach. All along
the strandline there was a greater number of hundreds of thousands of Slipper
Limpets and tens of thousands of Whelk
egg balls
amongst the usual mixed shell
collection including Whelks
and Oysters,
and frequent lumps of Tertiary Lignite
(sea coal).
One
Undulate
Ray eggcase looked in good condition and
was placed in an aquarium in case the embryo was still alive. There were
a few dozen dead Starfish
at the Old Fort, but not the hundreds reported from Brighton
beach.
To
qualify as nationally newsworthy a Starfish
stranding must be in tens of thousands.
Starfish
on the beach in Kent (March 2008)
BMLSS
Common Starfish
Sussex
Marine Life Reports
BMLSS
Oyster & the Slipper Limpet
BMLSS
Mermaid's Purses
15
March 2008
My
second Peacock Butterfly
of the year was seen in a sunny garden in Barfield Park, Lancing.
Adur
Butterfly List 2008
14
March 2008
A
Long-tailed
Duck landed on Widewater
Lagoon. Its black spot on its white head, for the winter plumage, was
very clear.
Report
by June Brown
10
March 2008
It
is blowing a gale for most of the day. At 8:00
am the southerly was blowing steadily at Gale
Force
8 gusting to
64 mph, Storm Force 11. One
tree had broken its trunk and left as a stump in St.Mary de Haura churchyard
in central Shoreham.
Met
Office Shoreham Weather
Adur
Weather Reports 2008
 9
March 2008
Hundreds
of Sweet Violets
were now to be seen flowering on the
lower
slopes of Mill Hill, with a few clumps
on the Pixie Path.
Adur
Violets
7 March
2008
I
was surprised to find a dead Badger
in Old Shoreham on the east side of the Steyning Road south of the entrance
to the Waterworks
Road, almost beneath the town sign of
Shoreham-by-Sea.
It
was a surprise because I have never seen any live Badgers
in the Shoreham area. Badgers
occur south of Coombes on the western
downside
of the River Adur.
They may now occur around Old Erringham on the eastern side, north of Mill
Hill.
The
first Comma Butterfly
of the year emerged from hibernation to flutter around the Butterfly Copse
next to the Waterworks Road,
Old Shoreham. It was in pristine condition and was restless, rarely settling
for more than 15 seconds, and after a few minutes it flew off rapidly westwards.
Adur
Butterfly Flight Times
Adur
Butterflies: First Dates
Adur
Butterfly List 2008
1
March 2008
St. David's Day
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