WILDLIFE
REPORTS
30
May 2019
A
male Broad-bodied Chaser
(dragonfly)
flew to and fro over the new pond at Truleigh Hill. It was my first dragonfly
of the year. On the downs near Truleigh Hill there was a fenced in
are of a hundred plus Welted Thistles in
flower.
Adur
Thistles
29
May 2019
A
diesel
spill in Lancing Business Park drained into Brooklands
Lake poisoned the water and resulted in
dead
fish floating on the surface..
Elderflower had
now taken over from Hawthorn
as the dominant flower in the hedgerows.
23
May 2019
Mute Swans and four Cygnets
Brooklands
21
May 2019
Adonis
Blues
Grizzled
Skipper
White
fluffy Cumulus clouds allowed intermittent
sunshine brought frequent butterflies
out on the lower slopes of Mill Hill. About
three-quarters were lively Adonis Blues
(38+7=45+)
over the swathes of Horseshoe Vetch,
Hippocrepis
comosa, frequent Small
Heaths (20+), patrolling Brimstone
Butterflies (10+), a few Large
Whites, a fresh Grizzled
Skipper, a fresh Dingy
Skipper, a Wall
Brown, a very fast flying Peacock
Butterfly, at least two each of Burnet
Companion Moths,
Cinnabar
Moths and Treble-bar
Moths. Two pairs of Adonis
Blues
were mating.
Mill
Hill Report
14
May 2019
A
Buzzard
flapped its wings and then glided in the clear turquoise blue sky over
Anchor
Bottom. A minute later a second
Buzzard
followed the same path in the sky. In the hazy sunshine, I also spotted
my first
Swallow
of 2019 over Erringham Gap and a second on over the Downs
Link Cyclepath at Upper Beeding by the South Downs Way Bridge over
the River Adur.
13
May 2019
Adonis
Blues
On
a sunny afternoon on the lower slopes of Mill
Hill produced scores of restless butterflies
fluttering around the early swathes of Horseshoe
Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa,
There were well over a hundred per acre of nine
species and all
of them were very active and I had to wait for over an hour for any to
settle nearby. Dingy Skippers were
the most frequent with over forty seen, but Grizzled
Skippers were old and much harder to find
only a handful including an amorous or sparring pair. The only one that
settled for a second was slightly frayed at the edges. Twenty or so male
Adonis
Blues were very lively until they came
across a few females.
Small
Heaths (12+) were frequently seen often
chasing each other and sparring with other species including occasional
Common
Blues.
Brimstone
Butterflies patrolled incessantly without
pausing, occasionally bumping into the whiter females and both a Large
White and a Green-veined
White. A flash of grey was a disturbed
Treble-bar
Moth, and a pretty Mother
Shipton Moth was recognised when it settled.
A Speckled Wood patrolled
the southern steps and a fresh Brown Argus
was
seen clearly by the winding path, near some Wayfaring
Tree shrubs.
2 May
2019
Dingy
Skipper with Horseshoe
Vetch
A flutter
of brilliant blue over the lower slopes of Mill
Hill heralded the beginning of summer on the downs with the first male
Adonis
Blue Butterfly of the year. It was unmistakable
even though seen in the middle distance for 15 seconds at most; too far
away to follow it for a photograph. Under
a dark cloudy sky with the first spots of rain,
it was too cool for many butterflies.
It was only after nearly an hour did I manage to disturb the first of half
a dozen Dingy Skippers,
followed soon after by a Small Heath,
a Green-veined White
and a probable Peacock Butterfly.
If I had not delayed my return I would missed the Adonis
Blue and a probable Wall
Brown.
Adur
Butterfly List 2019
Adur
Butterfly Flight Times
LINKS
May
2018 Reports
Shoreham
Weather 2019
EasyTide
(Shoreham)
Adur
Nature Notes 2013 |
