| EVENTS
 21
March 2009
Friends
of
Lancing Ring
AGM
& 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
Friends
of Lancing Ring web pages
Lancing
Ring Reports
Lancing
Villager
WILDLIFE
REPORTS
30
March 2009
The
first Grizzled Skipper
of the year seen on the lower slopes of Mill
Hill was a great surprise and the first one recorded in March.
I also recorded my first Small Tortoiseshell
of 2009 with
two of them visiting the violets
in the same location, as well as my first Small
White Butterfly of 2009
in Adur Avenue, north Shoreham. The frequent (15) Peacock
Butterflies were the most plentiful on
the day which included Brimstone Butterflies
mostly on the outskirts of Shoreham and one Comma
Butterfly on a fleeting visit to the Waterworks
Road.
Seven
species of butterfly were recorded in the
sunshine including a Red
Admiral at the top of Chanctonbury Drive,
near Mill Hill, where a Great Tit,
Parus
major, called repeatedly from the
trees to the north of the small green.
Full
Butterfly Report
Adur
Butterfly Flight Times
Adur
Butterflies: First Dates
Adur
Skippers
29
March 2009
An
unexpected treat was three or four individual Dotted
Bee-flies, Bombylius
discolor, using their long feeding
tubes to take nectar on a large patch of Ground
Ivy, Glechoma hederacea on Lancing
Ring.
This is
a notable record of a rarely recorded fly and is probably the first for
Lancing. Bombylius discolor is
a declining BAP (Biodiversity Action
Plan) species. In Great Britain this species is classified as Nationally
Scarce.
UK
Known Distribution (165 squares)
Adur
Flies 2009
Previous
Record on Mill Hill
The
first Sloethorn
of the year was seen in flower on the
side of the Coastal Link Cyclepath a few metres
south of Old Shoreham
Toll
Bridge and the first Dog
Violet on the Pixie
Path to Mill Hill. My first definite
Red-tailed
Bumblebee
of 2009 visited
a Common Daisy
on the footpath section of the Waterworks
Road. My first Common
Carder Bee visited a Daisy
on the Pixie Path. A trampled version of the Crow
Garlic or Wild
Onion,
Allium
vineale,
was seen on the Pixie Path. This was the first
record of this plant on the web pages.
Flora
of Shoreham-by-Sea (List).
Adur
Violets
23
March 2009
Although
Buff-tailed
Bumblebees had been frequent
every day this month, a special large emergence occurred with at least
thirty in five minutes rising from their burrows into flight from the grassy
are at the top of Chanctonbury Drive, Shoreham,
south-east of the bridge over the A27
to Mill Hill. At least two Common
Bee-Flies,
Bombylius
major, were also spotted hovering in the same area.
Adur
Bumblebees
Adur
Flies
22
March 2009
At
least three Peacock Butterflies visited
the Sweet Violets
on the lower slopes of Mill
Hill. One characteristic of the violets
on this original chalkhill although there were tens of thousands scattered
over the main transect area, the leaves were exiguous compared to violets
growing in more fertile soil.
Peacock Butterfly
A Comma
Butterfly landed on the northern part
of Frampton's Field, and another Comma
landed on the Waterworks Road,
Old Shoreham.
Full
Report
20
March 2009
Spring
has definitely sprung at Mill Hill with
a minimum of four Small Tortoiseshell
and seven Peacock Butterflies
feeding amongst the profusion of violets
on the lower slopes of Mill Hill. This is
the first report of a Small Tortoiseshell
in 2009.
Adur
Butterflies: First Dates
15
March 2009
The
first Comma,
Peacock
and
Brimstone
Butterflies of the year and a Red
Admiral were all seen on the outskirts
of Shoreham. A further five Peacock Butterflies
were seen on Mill Hill.
 Full
Report
Adur
Butterfly Flight Times
Adur
Butterflies: First Dates
Adur
Levels 2009
11
March 2009
My
first reptile of 2009
was
one of five Wall Lizards, Podarcis
muralis, basking for a brief view
on the south-facing flint surround wall of the Old Fort, Shoreham
Beach, before skitting off into the grass growing up next to the wall.
Two of the lizards were grey coloured small juveniles.
9 March
2009
A
male Pheasant
strutted over the shingle beach immediately to the east of the beach huts
on the south side of the road by the Church of the Good Shepherd on the
Shoreham-Lancing border. It was a surprise location to disturb a Pheasant
which
then flew off over Widewater
towards New Monks
Farm.
8 March
2009
My first
butterfly
seen this year was a Red Admiral
induced out of hibernation by the weak sunshine over the grass and the
edges of the copse at the top of Chanctonbury Drive,
south-east of the bridge over the A27
to Mill Hill.
Adur
Butterfly List 2009
1 March
2009
There
were the first large handful of Sweet Violets
seen in flower on the steep slope beneath
the seat on the southern section of Mill Hill.
On the lower slopes, two Partridges
whirred into flight. Through the light mist there were several thousand
gulls
to be seen on the pastures to the east of Mill Hill, on the ploughed fields
to the north of Cuckoo's Corner and on the mud flats of the receding tide
on the
River Adur.
There appeared to be a mixture of mostly Common
Gulls and Black-headed
Gulls on the downs.
Despite
the recent rain and snow, cattle had again been introduced to Mill
Hill, with fresh cow pats on the southern part of Mill
Hill Nature Reserve next to dried out pats from last year.
Adur
Violets
Cattle
Damage Report 2008
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