Urban Reports           2012

Lancing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Southwick

22 December 2012
There are still Hedgehogs in Shoreham. One trotted rapidly across Adelaide Crescent just before midnight.

15 November 2012
A Mistle Thrush was seen in the bare branches of a large tree immediately east of St. Michael of All Angels church in west Southwick. It was distinguished from a Song Thrush by its larger size and different shape.

28 September 2012
A single Swallow flew over Ropetackle prior to emigration.
 

5 September 2012 A Helophilus pendulus from the front angle, a view not normally seen in photographs of this frequently seen species of hoverfly. It was seen on Buckingham Cutting (south).

4 September 2012
 

About forty Red Admiral Butterflies congregated around a single Buddleia bush by the buffer stop (north of the Riverbank Industrial Estate) west Shoreham.
Butterfly & Moth List 2012

11 August 2012
Speckled Wood Butterflies courted in the warm sun in Hebe Road, Shoreham.

9 August 2012
The lawns/football pitches of Buckingham Park were covered in Red and White Clovers with a lot of yellow Hawkweeds, plus Common Daisies and the occasional Yarrow, Dandelions, Field Mouse-ear and Common Mouse-ear. There was some grass but clover leaves comprised most of the visible vegetation.

6 August 2012
It was another irritating (Force 5) breeze spoils a day when the sun occasional shines through the clouds. On the small garden at the entrance to PC World on the top road at Hove (out of the Adur area) the meadow contained Bird's Foot Trefoil* and about twenty small male Common Blue Butterflies were fluttering around including my first brown female of the year. There was also a few Meadow Browns and Speckled Woods in the brief few minutes of sunshine. Underneath tree canopy a second of the year Southern Hawker (dragonfly) looked menacing but the butterflies were fluttering around and chasing each other very quickly. After examining the out of focus record photographs, I discovered that the blue butterflies included at least one Holly Blue.
 

Speckled Wood on the PC World verges		Meadow Brown on the PC World verges

Under St. Julian's Churchyard, Kingston Buci, another Southern Hawker was spotted and some more Speckled Woods. Large White Butterflies were regularly seen from the road in residential Shoreham, with one Gatekeeper in the twitten connecting Adelaide Square with Corbyn Crescent, Shoreham. The bright yellow fluttering in Southwick was a fresh Brimstone Moth.  (*Also Hop Trefoil, Hawkweeds, RedandWhiteClovers, various grasses etc.)
Adur Butterfly & Moth List 2012

15 July 2012
 

A Swallow-tailed Moth, Ourapteryx sambucaria, dropped out of the hedge bordering a twitten in residential Shoreham.

5 July 2012

A Leafcutter Bee carefully selected Rose leaves and then cut them up and carried them away in Ray Hamblett's south Lancing garden. The whole process of cutting took about ten seconds.

15 June 2012 A "woolly bear" caterpillar of the Garden Tiger Moth, Arctia caja, crawled over the Marsh Marigolds in my front garden. The green speck is Duckweed. More have been seen in Shoreham Beach gardens and by the houseboats where they are known as Hairy Marys.  Adur Moths

14 June 2012
 

Spotted Orchid	Bee Orchid	Southern  Marsh Orchid

Four species of orchid were now in flower in Shoreham: Spotted Orchids and the first budding Pyramidal Orchids mostly on the southern bank of the Slonk Hill Cutting, three of the already fading Southern Marsh Orchids on the southern bank of the Mill Hill Cutting, and the small but magnificent Bee Orchid on the verge on Mill Hill Road.

1 June 2012
 

Dawn was sunny and a Speckled Wood Butterfly visited the Meadow Buttercups in my front garden for the second time this year and the second time in the last few days. But the sky filled with clouds before midday and the butterflies went into hiding. It needed a careful look to spot the first of the tiny Small Blue Butterflies this year, amongst the flowering Kidney Vetch on the southern bank of the Buckingham Cutting, where the Spotted Orchids were beginning to flower.
Adur Butterfly Flight Times
Adur Butterflies: First Dates
Full Butterfly Report
Adur Orchids

22 May 2012
On the first warm day of the year, a Holly Blue Butterfly and a Large White were seen over the residential part of Shoreham as I cycled by. In the early evening whilst still warm, one more of each were seen, another Holly Blue by Shoreham Library.

21 May 2012
In the early evening my first two Swifts of the year flew northwards over my house in Corbyn Crescent in residential Shoreham, performed a couple of aerobatics over the Middle Road allotments and then flew out of sight.

13 May 2012
A belated first amphibian of the year for me was a Common Frog in the shade and in my small garden pond. Just one frog seems to be resident in my garden.

10 May 2012
Foxes are seen lots of times at night with a pair of lean young Foxes were seen at the northern end of Southwick Green just before midnight.

8 May 2012
 

Marsh Marigold	Grey Squirrel

4 April 2012 Ivy was still in berry next to the twitten (railway bank) between Ropetackle and Victoria Road, Shoreham town centre. No butterflies were seen on a cool day.

30 March 2012
My first Hedgehog of the year scrambled in the road gutter at the junction of St Julian's Lane, Kingston Buci, near Church Green, Shoreham, and much too near the main traffic for its own safety. It was seen twenty minutes before midnight.

26 March 2012
I was surprised by an early Small White Butterfly, my first of the year, over the twitten by the Hamm Road allotments in Shoreham. On my return from a full visit to Mill Hill  I noted my first Speckled Wood Butterfly of the year at the top of Chanctonbury Drive.
Adur Butterfly List 2012
Adur Butterfly Flight Times
Adur Butterflies: First Dates

19 March 2012
A Red Admiral Butterfly flew over the top of Chanctonbury Drive (SE of Mill Hill), only my second species of butterfly seen this year. Long-tailed Tits flew to and from between the hedges and scrub and the Lesser Celandines were in the open gardens that adjoined the grass bank.
 

18 March 2012 I thought the two courting Herring Gulls were squabbling over food at first, but the courtship rituals in Adelaide Square, residential Shoreham, occurred for thirty minutes or more watched by more squawking Herring Gulls on the roof tops next to the chimneys.

4 January 2012
As expected in winter, the Pied Wagtails were particularly noticeable in Shoreham town, favouring (it seems) the concrete and tarmac over the vegetation.

Town Reports 2011