EVENTS
WILDLIFE
REPORTS
28
October 2014
 |
|
|
Cormorant
|
Little
Egrets
|
A
Shelduck,
two Cormorants,
four Teal,
two Little Egrets
and a handful Black-headed Gulls
all congregated together on a small patch of dry land on a flooded Widewater
Lagoon. On the shingle beach a flock of
a dozen or more Turnstones
were well camouflaged against the pebbles as the high tide
rolled against the shore. The flock flew off
over the sea when chased by a small Terrier
dog.
19
& 20 October 2014
Adur
Spiders
Adur
Bumblebees
Common
Bumblebees (ID)
5 October
2014
Throughout
the year, gulls
congregate on the mud flats of the River
Adur at the middle to low tides,
north of the Railway
Viaduct. There are more in numbers in
variety in winter where the Great Black-backed
Gull is a regular presence. Dedicated
birdwatchers will scan the roosting gulls for the frequent waders
and rarities and to test their skills at gull identification, which is
tricky with the juveniles and vagrant visitors.
A
gull with a white head and long flapping wings, was positively identified
as a visiting
Caspian Gull, Larus
cachinnans, a very
scarce (or under-recorded)
gull in Sussex and Britain.
A
Clouded
Yellow Butterfly fluttered in the sunshine
over a meadow between
the cyclepath and the River
Adur north of Old Shoreham on the same
latitude
as Old Erringham. There was very little colour or movement. On the outgoing
tide,
a Little Grebe
was seen taking flight, skimming over the calm water.
On
the southern carnot
wall of Shoreham
Fort, two adult Wall
Lizards,
Podarcis
muralis, skittered
rapidly over the flint and brick.
2 October
2014
Just
as I was going to jot down that there were no butterflies
seen on the lower slopes of Mill Hill,
a tatty blue butterfly was disturbed at the northern end after ten minutes
with only Crane-flies
and a few grasshoppers moving about. This
was the first of two male Common Blues
in the late afternoon. Immediately afterwards the first of half a dozen
or more Meadow
Browns
appeared,
including a fine condition male. The most impressive butterfly was a good
condition Wall Brown
that landed briefly on a bare area of chalky earth. Last but not least
was a probable Small Tortoiseshell
that flew off rapidly.
Adur
Butterfly Report
1 October
2014
| An
unusual white Musk Thistle was discovered
at Truleigh Hill.
|
 |
With
the low neap tide on the River
Adur at Old Shoreham, plenty of mud was
showing (tidal height: about 4 metres) and about five Oystercatchers
probed south of the Toll
Bridge, as a Cormorant
fished in open water. North of the Toll Bridge a Greenshank
was seen at the water's edge. Around the first bend in the river north
of Old Shoreham, scores of Common Gulls
congregated on a narrow bank of mud. On shore, Goldfinches
picked at the Teasels
and Lesser Burdock
for seeds.
October
2013 Reports
Wild
Flowers 2014
Shoreham
Weather 2014
EasyTide
(Shoreham)
Shoreham
Beach Weather Station
Adur
Nature Notes 2013 |
