FLOWERS
8 May
2018
Adur
Wild Flowers 2018
WILDLIFE
REPORTS
22
May 2018
It
was a very mixed day with my first freshwater
fish of the year: a shoal of Rudd
at Bramber Castle Lane Park and a Tench
at Annington Sewer. I also saw two Hairy Dragonflies, Brachytron
pratense.
Middle
slopes of Mill Hill
Eight
species of butterfly
and one Mother Shipton Moth were
seen in the afternoon, mostly on the upper part of Mill
Hill.
21
May 2018
Lower
slopes of Mill Hill
In
less than ideal conditions hundreds of Adonis
Blue
Butterflies
flew over the yellow carpet
of Horseshoe Vetch,
Hippocrepis
comosa, on the lower slopes of Mill
Hill. Over two hundred were seen in an hour in an unprecedented count.
Mill
Hill Report
18
May 2018
Common
Blues
Cinnabar
Moth, Adonis
Blues
WIth
the yellow carpet of Horseshoe Vetch,
Hippocrepis
comosa, on the lower slopes of Mill
Hill, looking splendid a day or two off its peak, the butterflies
were out in force, in numbers, if not variety. In
the transect acre there were estimated to
be in excess of a hundred butterflies
fluttering around in the sunshine. At least sixty were the lively and amorous
male Adonis Blues,
and the rest were made up of female Adonis
Blues, frequent Common
Blues,
frequent
Small
Heaths, occasional Grizzled
Skippers and
Dingy
Skippers, and a few Brimstone
Butterflies and Small
Whites. I spotted at least one Cinnabar
Moth on the lower slopes, and one Carpet
Moth where the cattle
had disturbed the flora and spoilt the habitat by the water trough. The
only surprise of the early afternoon was a very quick male Broad-bodied
Chaser (dragonfly)
chasing after the skippers.
A
few Azure Damselflies
were seen around the Brambles.
Mill
Hill Report
17
May 2018
Hawthorn
on
Mill Hill and on the hedgerows of the Downs Link Cyclepath
16
May 2018
Despite
the dull and breezy weather, the
Hawthorn
bordering the Downs Link Cyclepath between
Old Shoreham and Upper Beeding was blossoming
spectacularly as it was on Mill Hill and
in the roadside hedges and field boundaries of the patchwork landscape.
15
May 2018
Mute
Swan and cygnets
On
the big pond, the pair of Mute Swans
at Woods Mill had seven cygnets
in tow. The Little Grebes
had young as well, mostly in the middle amongst the lily pads. Scores of
bright blue Azure
Damselflies, Coenagrion
puella, occasional
Large
Red Damselflies and
frequent Beautiful
Demoiselles,
Calopteryx
virgo,
skirted
the vegetation of the fish less ponds and streams of the Nature Reserve.
A female a Broad-bodied
Chaser, Libellula
depressa, patrolled
incessantly over the still water.
14
May 2018
Hawthorn
and
Horseshoe
Vetch
Mill
Hill
Hawthorn
was
in blossom all over Mill Hill and the Adur
Levels. Likewise the yellow swathes of
Horseshoe
Vetch,
Hippocrepis comosa,
were
more than half in flower, attracting
the bees and butterflies.
Ten
species of butterfly were seen in and around
Mill Hill including my first Adonis Blues
and Brown
Argus
of the year.
Mill
Hill Report
7
May 2018
Grizzled
Skipper on Milkwort
Horseshoe
Vetch, Cinnabar
Moth
Hawthorn
was
starting to flower in the hedges. On the lower slopes of Mill
Hill, the first
Horseshoe Vetch
was flowering. The flowers attracted
seven
species of butterflies
and skippers
including first of the year Small Heath,
Wall
Brown Butterflies, and Dingy
Skippers and Grizzled
Skippers, and one Cinnabar
Moth.
Mill
Hill Report
Adur
Butterfly List 2018
May
2017 Reports
Shoreham
Weather 2018
EasyTide
(Shoreham)
Shoreham
Beach Weather Station
Adur
Nature Notes 2013 |
