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

31 October 2004
A Clouded Yellow Butterfly was seen at Upper Beeding.

This mushroom is the Golden Wax Cap, Hygrocybe chlorophana. They were discovered on the A27 road embankment just east of the bridge section where it crosses the Waterworks Road. The Dune Wax Cap, Hygrocybe conicoides, was discovered nearby as welll as the poisonous mushroom Clitocybe possibly dealbata.
Fungi of Shoreham
Adur Hygrocybe (Wax Caps)

25 October 2004
I spotted a blue butterfly fluttering around a sun bathed garden in North Lancing. I'd guess it was a very late third brood Holly Blue Butterfly.

A solitary bee discovered nectaring on Devil's Bit Scabious on the lower slopes of Mill Hill could be one of several species and is not yet identified. 
The consensus on the British Insects (Yahoo Group) is that this small bee is a species of Lasioglossum, and not a Colletes. 
The solitary bee is Lasioglossum xanthopum - the largest British species of the genus, with males that peak much later than any other species. It is a rather calcicolous species and frequent on the Sussex downs. It is graded Nationally Scarce at the moment.

21 October 2004
Thunder rumbled and sheet lighting flashed as the black clouds rolled in with the Strong Breeze (Force 5) gusting to Gale Force 8, from the south-west. Rain squalls were intermittent and brief.

BBC Five Day Forecast

At the western edge of Adur Recreation Ground, the White Poplar had already lost most of its leaves (a few silvery leaves could be seen on its crown when viewed from due east), whereas at the same time last year they mostly adorned the distinctive tree. 

20 October 2004
After the recent rain, the western slopes of Lancing Ring were so slippery that walking was much slower than usual with ordinary flat soled shoes and not proper walking boots. A dozen plus Harebells were still in flower amongst the long grasses. 

18 October 2004
It would need an experienced mycologist to identify the species of the fruiting bodies of the variety of mushrooms and toadstools on Lancing Clump and the numerous others that are found in the meadows.
 

If you want to try your hand at identification, the images can be found on the following web page. Click on the text and wait for the images to slowly appear.
Fungi Special Report

Fungi of Lancing

16 October 2004
On a mild October day under an overcast sky, there was a typical and wide selection of the usual fungi from large to small mushroom and toadstools in the Beech wood at Lancing Clump and amongst the meadows. 
Fungi Special Report
 

Katherine Hamblett heard the chirping of a male Dark Bush Cricket, Pholidoptera griseoaptera, with a distinctive yellow abdomen. This is a common insect but it is not heard so often. 
Lancing Ring 2004 Report
 

A Common Lizard with a regrown tail was discovered in the meadows of Lancing Ring.   Report and Photograph by Brenda Collins

14 October 2004
As an ominous black cloud rolled in from the west and made the darkness set in early, it was the pools underneath the groyne to the east of the Launching Ramp (5) that produced the most life on a low early evening spring 0.5 metre tide on Kingston Beach (Shoreham Harbour).
 

The Squat Lobster and Edible Crab (shown in the photographs above) are frequent intertidal inhabitants on the Sussex seashore, but they are only occasionally discovered on this semi-estuarine beach. Bullheads Taurulus bubalis, were at least half a dozen in the small pool underneath the groyne, and this is more than had been netted all summer, when this juvenile fish are usually so prevalent as to constitute a bit of a nuisance. 
A pair of Mute Swans flew over Kingston Beach from west to east as dusk descended.
Full Report
Kingston Beach 2004

As a high spring tide filled up the River Adur estuary around midday, a few hundred Lapwings rested on the green grass of Shoreham Airport.
 

A couple of Mute Swans appeared to be having a bit of a barney in the shallows of Widewater Lagoon at the eastern end. These may have been a quarrel with intruders. This years' cygnets are still greyish in colour. 
Lancing Nature Notes (Blogspot)

8 October 2004
Only one butterfly was seen on the upper slopes of Mill Hill, and this was a Comma in a glade south of the upper car park. An adult Roe Deer was seen in the narrow overgrown field next to the stream by the Steyning Road through the binoculars from the top of Mill Hill. 

7 October 2004
Early morning and their was a chill in the air with the temperature falling to 10.2 ºC, only rising to 15.5 ºC despite the sun being out in mid-afternoon. Could this explain the dearth of butterflies?  Just a handful of Meadow Browns at the northern end of the lower slopes of Mill Hill and a Clouded Yellow Butterfly.
On the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, the sun was out but there was some many bees, wasps, flies and hoverflies that only one Red Admiral Butterfly found a place to settle.

The total number of butterflies for the day fell to about twenty actually seen of just five species. They were replaced by Common Darter Butterflies with over fifty seen on the day, mostly on the downs. 
Full Butterfly Report
Adur Butterfly and Moth List 2004
 

A fungal foray to Lancing Clump produced an appetising (but not tested by being eaten) large Agaricus species shown on the image above right. There were also some dried out Parasols. 
Fungi Report
Fungi of Lancing

6 October 2004
The following butterflies were seen on Lancing Ring and the surrounding meadows: one Red Admiral, one Clouded Yellow (on the western side), several Wall Browns, four  Small Heaths (this is both the first record received from both the Lancing Clump meadows and for the month of October), many Whites and many Speckled Woods. Six species in a day is notable for October.

After the brief rain shower, the rainbow viewed from the southern car park at Mill Hill stretched in the distance from Beeding Hill to Mossy Bottom in the north-east. 
As the breeze gusted to 35 mph or Gale Force 7, the male Kestrel struggled in its hovering position over the lower slopes of Mill Hill for less than a minute before gliding off.
 

Altogether about thirty butterflies of seven species made an appearance in an hour on  Mill Hill. The highlights were a single faded Painted Lady on the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, and the appearance of between five and ten Wall Browns on the lower slopes. 
Butterfly Report

5 October 2004
With anything fluttering in the breeze likely to be a falling leaf, there were just two butterflies seen, both good condition Red Admirals. The large bright blue banded dragonflies that I had unfounded doubts over their identity were Emperor Dragonflies as one was persistently preying on small insects at the southern end of the Waterworks Road, Old Shoreham.
Adur Levels 2004

4 October 2004
Against the background of an azure blue sky for the brief period when the clouds had cleared just after midday, one Crow constantly mobbed the male Kestrel that regularly hovers over the lower slopes of Mill Hill. At this time of year, I only visit the lower slopes of Mill Hill, which means traversing the slightly muddy (after the rain) southern approaches where two Red Admiral Butterflies were seen. 
 

Red Admirals are most prevalent in late autumn	The best time to see a Comma Butterfly is in late autumn

The lower slopes produced six of the eight species of butterfly on the day, the most spectacular being a dazzling bright Clouded Yellow. 
Butterfly Report

The designated footpath (between the Waterworks Road and the Steyning Road, Old Shoreham) produced a solitary mushroom amongst the leaf litter of Field Maple. It stood upright about 80 mm above the ground on a hidden root in the middle of the path. It gills were white and it measured 55 mm in cap diameter. This species is the Rooted Shank, Oudemansiella radicata.

Common Toadflax, Linaria vulgaris, in flower now, a yellow plant seems common everywhere this year on waste ground, next to footpaths and even on the chalk banks of the River Adur south-east of the Toll Bridge at Old Shoreham. 
 

Common Mallow is still in flower, and this is a common and easily noticed plant on similar waste land, but although still common, it appears to have declined in the last few years. 
Adur Levels 2004
South Downs Link Cyclepath

1 October 2004
A huge toadstool has grown on a tree stump in Mill Hill Road, Old Shoreham. It measured 45 cm in length. This is the Dryad's Saddle, Polyporus squamosus, and it has been seen before in the same location. 
Previous Report
 

Fungi of Shoreham
Fungi of the British Isles (Yahoo Group)
Adur Town and Gardens 2004

There were just four species of butterfly on the lower slopes of Mill Hill. If it was an Adonis Blue Butterfly, and this seems likely, this would be the first one I have recorded in October.
Butterfly Report
Adur Butterflies Flight Times