BUTTERFLIES
 DRAGONFLIES
 HOVERFLIES
 BUMBLEBEES

Bumblebees
Hoverflies
Butterflies
Solitary Bees
Adur Bees, Wasps & Sawflies
Flies
Ladybirds
Beetles
Moths
Grasshoppers & Crickets
Damselflies & Dragonflies
Bugs
Spiders

WILDLIFE REPORTS

29 May 2016
A large unidentified dragonfly was seen flying rapidly over Shoreham Beach and the Shoreham Fort end (east). It was the first of the year and flew like a hawker. Wall Lizards, Podarcis muralis, were not seen on the carnot walls of the Fort but they were occcasionally seen (5) on the shingle and house garden walls backing on to the beach. 

25 May 2016

17 May 2016

Swathes of yellow of the Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, at its peak, covered the lower slopes of Mill Hill. Nine species of butterfly were seen on an intermittently sunny and breezy afternoon. These included by first Common Blues, Adonis Blues and Green Hairstreak of the year. Dingy Skippers were the most frequent of the butterflies with over a dozen seen. The flash of crimson was the first of two Cinnabar Moths I disturbed. Hawthorn was now blossoming on Mill Hill and the flowers of this small tree could be seen in the hedgerows of the Adur Levels from the hill.
Adur Butterfly List 2016

12 May 2016

11 May 2016

Hundreds of Early Purple Orchids were in flower under the canopy of Lancing Clump where the sun would have shined through if it wasn't a misty day. 
Adur Orchids

10 May 2016

A colony of Slow Worms on the upper part of Mill Hill was my fourth species of reptile this year (Adur has five species) on a cloudy day with a hint of a breeze and mist in the valley. Too cool for butterflies although I did disturb a very fresh Speckled Wood near the upper copse on Mill Hill, and another one on the Pixie Path to Mill Hill. 

9 May 2016

Most of the Blackthorn blossom had blown away on the top of Mill Hill, where Hawthorn was now flowering. Down on the lower slopes, the yellow of the Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, was abundantly in flower, but nowhere near is best showing, and the Dog Violets were still commonly scattered over hillside. The small orange flutterers were a bit of a puzzle a first until one settled and then I recognised the first Small Heath Butterflies (7) of the year.
Mill Hill Report

8 May 2016
 

Orange Tip Butterfly	Green-winged Orchid

On the warmest day (23.2°C) of the year, my first two Holly Blue Butterflies were spotted in the sunshine. Green-winged Orchids were in flower at Anchor Bottom. However, the biggest surprise of the afternoon was a 30 cm long grey fish in Ladywell's Stream (south of Coombes) on the east side of road, east of the small weir. This was the largest fish I've seen in that streams in the area which are even in flood are less than 60 cm in depth. The fish cruised out of sight in a second and I had only time to notice that it lacked red fins and seemed to have protuberances along its lateral line. I thought it looked like a streamlined Carp. 
Adur Orchids

6 May 2016

I headed north of Coombes up the country road on an unplanned cycle ride, encouraged by the afternoon sunshine. North of Coombes village, Hawthorn was beginning to flower in the leafy hedgerows, whilst in Old Shoreham Blackthorn flowers were still on the trees joined by the fresh growth of leaves.
Adur Levels

5 May 2016

A trip to Worthing Pier on a low spring tide was so disappointing not to be newsworthy. There were three small Blennies, Lipophrys pholis, a few small Edible Crabs, Cancer pagurus, a Velvet Swimming Crabs, Necora puber, frequent Beadlet Anemones, Actinia equina, occasional but small and inconspicuous Sagartia troglodytes, and two Snakelocks Anemones, Anemonia viridis, A small flock of Turnstones was feeding amongst the rocks and bedrock. Two Sting Winkles, Ocenebra erinacea, one tiny one, was the most interesting find.
They were my first marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and marine molluscs of the year.

4 May 2016
Contrary to reports of the day before, Blackthorn was still flowering plentifully on the upper part of Mill Hill and the green leaves of Hawthorn but not the flowers. I spotted my first Speckled Wood Butterfly of the year in the shade of the linear copse by Buckingham Cutting (south). A rustle amongst the Cotoneaster on the meadow of the cutting was a Common Lizard in the weak sunshine. 
 

On Mill Hill, the Horseshoe Vetch was now beginning and the flowers were already common on the lower slopes with equally common Dog Violets. The violets were visited by at least two Grizzled Skippers and I also saw my first two Dingy Skippers of 2016. A few Brimstone Butterflies patrolled the bottom hedgerow, and a Small White and a handful of Peacock Butterflies, and frequent Pyrausta micro-moths of the three downs species.

A Buzzard glided high in the blue sky above Mill Hill and I was rewarded by the sight of a pair of Linnets perching on Privet. Bird song could be heard above the noise of the traffic.
Mill Hill Report

3 May 2016

Hawthorn was now on green leaf and Blackthorn ceased flowering at Cuckoo's Corner, but there were still Primroses, Cowslips, Green Alkanet and Bluebells around the outskirts of Shoreham together with newly flowering Red Campion, Garlic Mustard, one clump of Cuckoo Flower (near Ladywells on the Coombes Road), and the first two Yellow Flag Iris (stream next to Ladywells) the most eye catching on a breezy day. Three butterflies were spotted: Comma, Small White and Peacock, and frequent Rhingia hoverflies. 
Adur Butterfly List 2016

1 May 2016
 

A probable Green-veined White Butterfly flew around the Alexanders next to the tarmac cyclepath south of the Tollbridge, Old Shoreham. My first male Orange-tip Butterfly of the year was a pristine butterfly that made a fleeting visit to Three Cornered Garlic and Green Alkanet at the southern end of the Waterworks Road. I returned very late in the afternoon to find occasional hoverflies of at least five species including the pretty Leucozona lucorum. 
Adur Butterfly List 2016

May 2015 Reports

Wild Flowers 2016
Shoreham Weather 2016

EasyTide (Shoreham)

Shoreham Beach Weather Station
 

Adur Nature Notes 2013