BUTTERFLIES
 DRAGONFLIES
 HOVERFLIES
 BUMBLEBEES

Valley and Flood Plain from of the River Adur

River Adur tidal reaches 

Sussex downland on both sides of the River Adur,
including Mill Hill Nature Reserve

Extensive urban area including the coastal towns of Shoreham, Southwick and Lancing, and the inland town of Steyning and countryside villages

Rich marine, seashore, shingle beach and lagoon habitats

30 November 2004
At 10:50 am, two Sand Martins flew over my home in Lancing, followed eleven minutes later by a Waxwing which perched in a Rowan tree.

A Sparrowhawk flew rapidly over the Waterworks Road north of the A27 Flyover, and in the distance an adult Roe Deer was standing in the middle of the road in front of the closed gate at the entrance to the Waterworks House, but at my approach it darted into the wood on the slope of Mill Hill, climbing the 45 degree slope. It lacked any antlers. 
Fungi of the Day (Link)

20 November 2004
We were watching TV on in the evening when there was a terrific crash on our living room window. I rushed out, expecting some sort of trouble, but saw a stunned bird running across the garden. It was a female Pheasant - not exactly a regular visitor to Eastern Avenue, Shoreham, near the open space of the allotments.

19 November 2004
A butterfly fluttered under the eaves of Southwick railway station. It was almost certainly a Red Admiral and it may turn out to be the last one of the year. 

14 November 2004
An aggressive and territorial Robin Redbreast chased off a Collared Dove in a garden near Buckingham Park in Shoreham (TQ  219 063). Birds have returned to the garden after their summer paucity. There were at least half a dozen Blackbirds, and a Magpie chased a Sparrowhawk off a neighbouring tree and the bird of prey swerved at just above fence height with prey in its talons. A Song Thrush spent a few minutes bathing in the garden pond. 
Garden Birdwatch in Shoreham (Database)
A late butterfly flew strongly over the same garden in the afternoon. It was almost certainly a Red Admiral Butterfly. 
Adur Town & Gardens 2004

13 November 2004
With the sun very low in the clear blue autumnal sky, the temperature only reached 8.0 ºC, the coolest daytime temperature since 11 March 2004. 
(Past Records)
 

12 November 2004
This month has been noted by a succession of colourful red sunsets.

The picture rather sums up the progression of autumn, the leaves falling from the trees and the decay and fungi including some quite large Agaricus mushrooms on a sodden Lancing Clump. 

11 November 2004
Four or five Red Admiral Butterflies danced around Lancing Clump in pairs.

Ribbed Melilot (possibly Tall Melilot) was in flower on Mill Hill and the small white mushroom confirmed as the Pale Wax Cap, Hygrocybe berkeleyi, (known on the British Mycological List as Hygrocybe pratensis var pallida).

Cercle de Mycologie de mons (Belgique) page perso de JJ.Wuilbaut
Mushroom Report on Mill Hill

9 November 2004
The daytime temperature only reached 11.9° C which made it feel chilly in the afternoon, the coolest daytime temperature since 26 March 2004. 
 
 

The two small mushrooms in the photographs above only reached 30 mm in cap diameter and most of the small clump, on the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, were about 20 mm. They have not been identified. 
The spore print of this mushroom turned out to be white.
With the latest photographs this species has now been identified as probably being a Dermoloma, if blackening, Dermoloma magicum.

8 November 2004
Fircroft Avenue in north Lancing produced a mixed selection of Pholiota and Common Ink Cap mushrooms. 
Picture Portfolio

In the damp Field Maple leaf letter and tree stumps on the footpath (between the Waterworks Road and the Steyning Road, several mushrooms new to this area were discovered. 
Fungi of Shoreham

6 November 2004
A Great Spotted Woodpecker, in my north Shoreham back garden was my  first record ever in 27 years of living there. 

5 November 2004
A late Red Admiral Butterfly was seen in Ullswater Road Sompting.

4 November 2004
Both Kestrels and Sparrowhawks can be seen over and around Lancing Clump and it is often difficult to tell the difference. This bird is a hovering Kestrel.

On the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road I was buzzed by a few hoverflies of two species. One of these nectar seeking insects was the Drone Fly (hoverfly) and the other smaller one is a black colour form of the abundant Episyrphus balteatus.  It is the photograph on the right. 
Red Admiral Butterflies were reported in numbers up to three at a time from widespread urban areas.
The air temperature reached 15.8° C.
Adur Butterfly and Moth List 2004

3 November 2004
Generally, on lawns, on grass verges, under town trees and in flower beds, mushrooms proliferated and were certainly in much larger numbers than the dry summer and autumn of 2004. November is the best month, but without veering out of my way to look for them, the numbers and variety exceed my capacity to record and identify all of them.

The mushrooms were photographed and recorded on the following web page (click on the text below this line): 
Fungi of the Urban Adur Area in November 2004
 
 

Identified and recognisable species included Volvariella gloiocephala, Glistening Ink-caps, Field Mushrooms, Parrot Wax Caps, Clitocybe, Leucoagaricus leucothites, Wood Blewits, a Blackening Ink Cap and the broken remnants of a species of a Honey Fungus Armillaria gallica, plus at least four species that I could not confidently put a name to. This was at least a dozen different species, with one species from Southwick, one species from Shoreham, one species from Lancing beach, two from near Brooklands and seven species from Lancing including four from one community lawn*, surrounding an apartment block near the railway station. 
(* Location identified by Ray Hamblett)

I made a note of Herb Robert is flower in a handful of clumps in Lancing and one intact Greater Periwinkle and some broken ones.

2 November 2004
Underneath the Field Maple on a footpath (between the Waterworks Road and the Steyning Road the first mushrooms seen were the miniature white Candle Tuft, followed by a group of three Common Ink Caps and then more of these prominent mushrooms around the tree roots, followed by two early Shaggy Parasols on the path.
Full Report and Images
Adur Fungi: Fruiting Bodies (Monthly Guide)

1 November 2004
Whereas after the dry summer of 2003, Mill Hill was parched and the grass and herblands were almost devoid of fungi, this year, there seems to be dozens of what are almost certainly common species scattered thinly over the whole area. 
 

The tall species (illustrated above left) is the first species I have discovered with a volva in the ground. This was left behind on the roadside verge south of the reservoir (country road to from Mill Hill to Beeding Hill) when the stem was pulled off for a closer look. The 60 mm diameter cap was slightly greenish and the gills were fawn coloured. There was no sign of a stem ring. This species is Volvariella gloiocephala.

There were what was could be (although lacking the stem ring) poor condition old specimens (left) of Leucoagaricus leucothites in the pasture to the east with the smaller familiar-looking small brown mushroom with a thin brown stem (image on the right, above). This looks one of the many species of Conocybe ? 

Full Fungal Report for All Saint's Day (Mill Hill)
 

Fungi of Shoreham
Fungi of the Urban Adur Area in November 2004
Autumn 2004 Fungi of Mill Hill
Fungi Images on the Web (Index)
Adur Fungi: Fruiting Bodies (Monthly Guide)