Urban Reports           2015 - 2019

Lancing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Southwick

2019

 
30 September 2019

It was too cool (9.2 °C) for a Peacock Butterfly to open its wings naturally as it was discovered with it wings firmly closed in the gutter of Buckingham Road, Shoreham, in the late afternoon. It was likely enticed from hibernation into a brief flight earlier to enable me to record my first butterfly of the year.

19 March 2019

A large white mass was highly incongruous growing from a dead tree stump at the northern end of Mill Hill Drive, north Shoreham. From a distance it looked more like white paper debris; it was only when I got closer I realised it was a living organism and when identified it will probably be one of the common bracket fungi that grow on dead tree stumps.

21 February 2019

2018
 

5 November 2018
An immigrant  Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Macroglossum stellatarum, visited a purple Salvia flower in a Shoreham town back yard.

15 September 2018

Bellflower was seen in St. Nicolas churchyard, Old Shoreham. Borage was an unexpected discovery on the Upper Shoreham Road north grass verge by Buckingham Park, north Shoreham.

10 September 2018
Tremendous!, I chanced upon a magnificent uninterrupted view of a large female Sparrowhawk whilst cycling at 15 mph as the big brown bird of prey flew across my path about five metres above the road junction, (so the view of the bird was side on rather than from underneath), between The Avenue and Downside at the entrance of the Dovecote Estate, north Shoreham. I had seen one before whilst cycling in autumn in similar circumstances but never managed such a clear view, if only for two seconds.
 
 

9 September 2018 Another medium-sized moth was discovered in my kitchen and released. It was another Large Yellow Underwing Moth, Noctua pronuba . There was a smaller fawn moth L-album Wainscot, Mythimna l-album, as well, but I could not capture it.

8 September 2018
A partially colourful Red Underwing Moth, Catocala nupta, found its way into my upstairs bathroom in Shoreham. It was trapped and released but flew away rapidly before I could get a photograph.

5 September 2018
A Large Yellow Underwing Moth, Noctua pronuba, found its way into my upstairs kitchen in Shoreham. It escaped through a partially open window.

12 August 2018

Adur Hawk-moths
Adur Moths

31 July 2018
Six Common Frogs poked their heads out between the Duckweed in my tiny garden pond.

21 July 2018
A Plumed Fanfoot (moth), Pechipogo plumigeralis, was seen indoors.

18 June 2018
Pineapple Weed, Matricaria discoidea, was a surprise discovery on a grass verge at the far western end of MIddle Road, Shoreham. It looks like a daisy without petals.

17 - 18 March 2018
A few flurries of sleet and snow left a thin sprinkling, 75 mm at most on the flat ground in Shoreham town. The roads and pavements were mostly not cold enough for the snow to settle. Air temperatures were on and about freezing over the weekend, but the wind was slight. The water and frog spawn on my small garden pond was not frozen at all.

15 March 2018
In the weak sunshine I spotted my first butterfly of the year; a Red Admiral over Mill Hill Road at the southern end of the bridge over the A27. On the lawn at the top of Chanctonbury Drive, north Shoreham there were a few Sweet Violets and Lesser Celandine in flower.

13 March 2018
The weather was pleasant enough to spot t my first bumblebee of the year, a Buff-tailed Bumblebee visited a flower shop in Lancing.

7 March 2018
After the ice had melted a Common Frog appeared in my tiny Shoreham garden pond.  A clump of spawn was spotted.

27 February 2018

20 February 2018

In the morning there was a large lump of frog spawn in my garden in Eastern Avenue, Shoreham.

14 February 2018

29 January 2018
My first arthropod of the year was a tiny Money Spider, Linyphiidae, indoors. A Fox lolloping down Adelaide Square, in Shoreham, in the evening, was my first wild mammal of 2018.

1 January 2018

Predictably a young Herring Gull was my first bird of 2018 on a cloudy morning by Shoreham-by-Sea railway station. Nearby, a diminutive Oxford Ragwort was my first wild flower of the new year.
 

2017
 

28 September 2017

The mown green space at the the top of Chanctonbury Drive, north Shoreham, was not only grass but a mixture of the common species of wild plants or weeds including a wide variety of he dandelion-like Cichorioid Daisies which I find tricky to identify and even more problematic to remember how to differentiate them for sure, with all the leaves entangled and not always easy to see and remember which is which. The patch as far as I could determine included the easy to recognise Dandelions, Taraxacum officinale agg., and Rough Hawkbit, Leontodon hispidus, the reasonably easy Lesser Hawkbit, Leontodon saxatilis, but also thought to include frequent Autumnal Hawkbit, Scorzoneroides autumnalis, which I am far less positive about.

27 September 2017

A dark Speckled Wood Butterfly in my front garden engaged in a rather droopy and languid flight. I demolished the Garden Spider web between the two Garden Privet hedges to give it more of a chance.

9 September 2017

Little Weed at the Bus Stop Shaggy Soldier, Galinsoga quadriradiata

I spotted this little weed at the vehicle slope entrance to Coronation Green, Shoreham as I waited for he number 2 bus to Steyning. I did not recognise it and I had an inkling that it was an accidental immigrant. I was proven right as it was quickly identified as the Shaggy Soldier, Galinsoga quadriradiata, by the British & Irish Seasonal Wildflowers facebook group.

19 July 2017

7 June 2017
A Fox yapped/barked (alarm call) repeatedly just after midnight, heard from Corbyn Crescent in Shoreham.

28 March 2017

Peregrine Falcons on the electricity pylons, Southwick, not the most romantic setting but I was privileged to capture this very special moment. I wonder where she would be laying her eggs to hatch ?

3 March 2017

One clump of frog spawn was discovered in my tiny garden pond in my front garden in south Shoreham.

16 February 2017

Just the brief rays of the warm 10.2 °C  sun under a blue sky was a pleasant spring day that brought out Daffodils that were flowering on the Saltings roundabout (west of the Norfolk Bridge) and at the bottom of Parkside, north Shoreham.

15 February 2017
 

Winterberry	Wood Pigeons

A measured 732 metres due north (one minute flying time) of where the Waxwings were spotted, five Wood Pigeons occupied the tree of red berries in the fading light of the late afternoon.

29 January 2017
RSPB Birdwatch
An adult Herring Gull just landed in my postage stamp sized front garden in the rain.

24 January 2017
In the early hours after midnight I heard a Fox calling in Corbyn Crescent, Shoreham. It sounded like an Alarm Bark.
Fox Calls

2 January 2017
A pair of Magpies in the bare trees in Corbyn Crescent were the first corvids and non gull birds of the year, with a flock of a dozen plus House Sparrows in Dolphin Road. As a leftover from last year, an alien Oxford Ragwort was just about showing a flower by the railway tracks at Eastern Avenue, Shoreham.

1 January 2017
A Red Fox trotting across Southwick Green in the early hours was my first wild mammal seen this year. As usual the first bird of the year was an adult Herring Gull gliding over the roof tops in Corbyn Crescent in the late morning.
 
 

2016
 

25 October 2016

Oxford Ragwort, Senecio squalidus, is a alien hybrid ragwort first introduced to into the UK around 1690 via the Oxford Botanic Gardens. It escaped into the wild and spread rapidly along railway tracks from the late 19th century. In Shoreham it favours the gravel ballast of the railway track (near Eastern Avenue Railway Level Crossing) and areas of shingle on Shoreham Beach. Its flowers are a richer yellow than the native Common Ragwort and Hoary Ragwort. It is a more attractive plant with a longer flowering season.  It can be seen in flower from April until November. The small and weedy Groundsel was still flowering in Old Shoreham.

24 October 2016

9 October 2016

Adur Wild Flowers 2016

8 July 2016
Blown about in the Moderate Breeze (Force 4), with gusts, three Comma Butterflies showed, at least two by the Waterworks Road and another over the Footpath 3140 to The Street, Old Shoreham, followed by a Large White. Two Meadow Browns were blown into view between Old Shoreham and Ropetackle on the verges of the tarmac path.
Adur Butterfly List 2016

19 March 2016
Common Frog spawn reported by Helen Swyer to have been laid in excess abundance this year. A couple of pints were transferred to my close-by garden pond.

17 March 2016
In the dark of night just after a 70.1% Moon set below the horizon, a Fox awakened the neighbourhood (of Corbyn Crescent, Shoreham) as it screamed a harsh and repeated "Vixen Call" in the early hours (3:00 am).  It was cold night with a below freezing wind chill.

2 August 2015 A Large White Butterfly visited the two metres high Spear Thistle in my front garden.

7 July 2015
Within the Shoreham town boundaries the tally of butterflies were about ten Ringlets around Slonk Hill Farm Road (three north of the bridge, and seven on the southern bank), with a few Small Whites and a few Large Whites seen in Shoreham town. On Buckingham Cutting (south) I added a handful of Small Blues, a Small Skipper and half a dozen Meadow Browns all seen immediately and a Comma and Gatekeeper added after ten minutes. There was a Speckled Wood at the top of Buckingham Park.
Adur Butterfly List 2015

27 June 2015

The dark Froglets in my garden pond had four legs and a tail and were lively amongst the Duckweed.

19 June 2015
 

Stag Beetle

At the top of the Pixie Path (south side of the bridge to Mill Hill) a female Stag Beetle crawled across the narrow footpath.