Southwick Nature

**2005**
Adur Flood Plain
Chalk Downs
Coastal Fringe
Intertidal (Seashore)
River Adur Estuary
Lancing Blogspot
Sea (off Sussex)
Town & Gardens
Widewater Lagoon

**2004**
Coastal Fringe
Chalk Downs: Mill Hill
Intertidal (Seashore)
River Adur Estuary
River Adur Flood Plain
Sea (off Sussex)
Town & Gardens
Widewater Lagoon
Lancing Ring (Nature)

SUSSEX LINKS

Findon Village

Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

Sussex Archaeology &
Folklore

Lancing (RH)

Adur Butterfly Page

Looking down the bridleway from Stonechat Junction (midway between Southwick Hill and Mossy Bottom Barn) (TQ 225 078) towards Slonk Hill

Adur Valley Wildlife

Southwick Nature
Town & Gardens, Sea & Seashore 2005 et seq.
including Shoreham Harbour wildlife

Southwick Nature 2006
10 October 2005

Railway embankment by the Albion (Grange Industrial Estate)
car and lorry park
15 November 2005
There were hundreds of Slipper Limpet chains, Crepidula fornicata, washed on the strandline on Southwick Beach. These molluscs were probably washed up during the gales last week as all the shells were dead and could be prised apart easily revealing the orange flesh inside.

Adur Coastal
BMLSS Molluscs
Oyster & the Slipper Limpet
18 September 2005
An Oystercatcher was spotted on Southwick beach.
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden

2 September 2005
A small film of petrol covered the harbour canal water opposite the Power Station and emitted an unpleasant smell. Despite this the shoals of small first year fish included Bass and Sand Smelts, with Common Gobies, at least two adult Rock Gobies, and at least two very young Corkwing Wrasse positively identified, together with the flash of the silvery side flanks of larger second year Bass. Moon Jellyfish were frequently to be seen.
22 June 2005
45 Spiny Spider Crabs, Maja squinado, are found washed up dead on Southwick Beach. They were all very small specimens about 75 mm carapace width. The gulls were picking at the remains.
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden
NB: This was the size of crab that I caught in my shrimp net on 13 June 2005.
11 June 2005
Just one shrimp in the push-net with a lot of weed. A small Dover Sole, Solea solea, was captured as well as over half a dozen Vernal Crabs, Liocarcinus vernalis.
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden

26 May 2005
The Shoreham Harbour fog horn boomed, the mist rolled in (visibility on the shore was 500 metres but much less at sea), with the air temperature falling from 18° C to 17° C an hour and a half before dusk, and a sea temperature about 11.8° C (offshore). Shoreham Power Station Chimney was obscured in mist and the visibility at times must have been less than 200 metres.

National Buoy Station (East Channel)

I noticed that behind (north of) Carat's Cafe on Southwick Beach that five square metres of Kidney Vetch was now in flower amongst the Silver Ragwort, together with clumps of Sea Campion, swathes of Thrift (south of Carat's Cafe) and Biting Stonecrop.
Adur Stonecrops
The Beadlet Anemones, Actinia equina, in the third image (far right) are from the syenite rock sea defences.
20 May 2005
The Peregrine Falcon on the Shoreham Harbour Power Station chimney squawked madly and became agitated as the painters on the chimney got near the nest box.
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden
NB: Peregrines lay their eggs in April and the youngsters remain in the nest for up to 40 days.
10 May 2005
A handful of Kidney Vetch, Anthyllis vulneraria, is in flower on the Southwick Beach margins, between Carat's Cafe and the private road.
2 May 2005
A Solenette, Buglossidium luteum, and a Plaice in the shrimp push-net off Southwick, but there were only ten Brown Shrimps on the low neaps. This is a very poor shrimping return for April or May. However, these two fish have not been knowing caught before whilst shrimping or rockpooling, so this was a successful outing.

Loaded Shrimping Bikes at Southwick beach
Pashley and a Gundle

At least one Peregrine Falcon flew around the Power Station frightening the local pigeons. The Sea Thrift was in flower near Carat's Cafe.
29 April 2005
Just a dozen Brown Shrimps, a very poor total as the rollers pounded Southwick Beach on a low neap tide. A large Flounder and a Weever fish were also caught in the one and a half metre push-net.
Shrimping Report by Peter Talbot Elsden
Marine Life of Sussex
24 April 2005
Early morning shrimping at Southwick Beach was extremly poor with only 17 Brown Shrimps caught push-netting in two hours.
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden

28 March 2005 Afternoon
On the third rung from the top of Shoreham Harbour Power Station (north side), the Peregrine Falcon was a small dot even through binoculars. Whilst waiting to see if it would dive on an unsuspecting bird, the mist closed in in the late afternoon and obscured the huge chimney completely.
28 March 2005 Dawn
There was petrol in the sea that completely marred a dawn shrimping session on Southwick beach the low spring Easter Monday tide. The smell was worse than the visual evidence.
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden
NB: This is probably petrol from the holidaymaker's boats that floats on the surface in an oily film in the Shoreham Harbour canal and is pumped out on the high spring tides. It has occured before. It it usually disperses in a day or two.
15 March 2005
A Black Redstart was observed in the woodpiles behind Carrot's Cafe, near Shoreham Harbour Power in Southwick. This is not a migrant bird but only third time I've seen it this winter.
Report by Richard Fairbank on Sussex Birds (Yahoo Group)
Sussex Birds Forum Message (Link)
11 March 2005
In the late afternoon, a Peregrine Falcon glided around the base of the Shoreham Power Station before disappearing from the view behind the huge open-clam-like parts of the superstructure of the building. Peter Talbot-Elsden is keeping a record of all the sightings from his apartment window that looks directly over the Power Station.
18 February 2005 Afternoon
Dropping like a moving stone from the sky, the Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus, descended from the nest box on Shoreham Power Station before levelling out and disappearing from sight in less than a second. The distance must have been 25 metres, mostly in direct vertical descent (dive) and my estimate of its speed was between 25 metres to 37.5 metres a second, equivalent to a speed of between 56 and 84 mph. This was the first time I had seen a Peregrine dive. It was sudden more than impressive and again I remark how small the bird seemed to me, scarcely bigger than a Kestrel at distance and about the same size as the prevalent Black-headed Gulls. A minute later a Peregrine was seen emerging from behind the main Power Station building, but this may have been a different falcon as up to three had been seen at one time recently.
16 February 2005
Three Peregrine Falcons are spotted around the chimney of Shoreham Power Station about 8:20 am.
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden

7 February 2005
A Peregrine Falcon was seen flying around Shoreham Harbour Power Station chimney (where the nest box is).
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden

31 January 2005
A Peregrine Falcon was seen flying around Shoreham Harbour Power Station chimney (where the nest box is) at 9:00 am.
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden

25 January 2005
There was a single Oystercatcher with a mussel in its mud covered red-orange beak on the shingle with a single Turnstone observed. A young Herring Gull persistently dropped a mussel shell on to the shingle.

The lichens on the harbour wall, and photographed above, are probably the very common species Xanthoria.
Adur Lichens
Southwick Nature 2004
Dogwhelks (a gastropod mollusc)

2004
31 December 2004
A large Peregrine Falcon was seen flying around Shoreham Harbour Power Station chimney (where the nest box is) at 10:00 am.
Report by Peter Talbot-Elsden

29 November 2004
The half a dozen Turnstones on the strandline of Southwick beach at high tide were in in no hurry to fly away, relying on their camouflage.
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.

Southwick Nature 2004

LINK TO THE SOUTHWICK DOWNS NATURE REPORTS 2004