Waterworks Road & Butterfly Copse      2004

Link to the Waterworks Road Wildlife Reports for 2005

6 December 2004
Underneath the Field Maple on a footpath (between the Waterworks Road and the Steyning Road the first mushrooms seen were a group of at least eight intact Common Ink Caps, Coprinus atramentarius, followed a group of about six fresh Wood Blewit, Lepista nuda, to 90 mm cap diameter, and some miniature white Clavulina.
Fungi of Shoreham

30 November 2004
A Sparrowhawk flew rapidly over the Waterworks Road north of the A27 Flyover, and in the distance an adult Roe Deer was standing in the middle of the road in front of the closed gate at the entrance to the Waterworks House, but at my approach it darted into the wood on the slope of Mill Hill, climbing the 45 degree slope. It lacked any antlers. In the photograph on the right, it will be tricky to spot it amongst the barren trees.
Underneath the Field Maple on a footpath (between the Waterworks Road and the Steyning Road the first mushrooms seen were a group of three fresh Common Ink Caps, Coprinus atramentarius, followed almost immediately by a few small Mycena-like mushrooms on a long stalk growing in soil, and some remaining miniature white Clavulina. The small mushrooms were thought to probably be Mycena flavescens.
Next to the Waterworks Road, there was a large old Straw Mushroom, Volvariella gloiocephala, with its distinctive volva.
Report with Images
Fungi of Shoreham

19 November 2004
Amongst the small trees, including Wayfaring Tree and Holly, and scrub of the road embankment that borders the northern edge of the horse's field south-west of the bridge over the A27 to Mill Hill, the troop of half a dozen Long-tailed Tits, mentioned before, played "follow the leader" again and appear to be currently resident winter immigrants.

10 November 2004
On fresh horse dung in the field at the top of The Street, the two mushrooms were probably Panaeolus sphinctrinus.
 

8 - 9 November 2004
In the damp Field Maple leaf litter and tree stumps on the footpath between the Waterworks Road and the Steyning Road, several mushrooms new to this area were recorded.
 

These included one Wood Blewit, Lepista nuda,  one tall mushroom with a white column (without a volva) which had deteriorated, is probably Coprinus niveus, and a brown mushroom with a small (> 20 mm) cap and a thin brittle brown stalk. The gills in this latter brown mushroom (illustrated on the the far right above) showed signs of turning red. This makes me think it is the Bleeding Mycena, Mycena haematopus (? it could be a similar species ?). The spore print of this mushroom was light brown.
 

There were also also Clavulina cristata and Clavaria miniature white fungi growing on mossy stumps and two very small brown mushrooms on a twig that showed their gills on top. This very small mushroom could be one of several species, possibly Crepidotus variabilis ?
Further up the path towards Mill Hill the brown mushrooms were a different species with a much shorter and thicker stipe compared to the ones in the leaf litter, growing amongst herbs and grass underneath the wooden fence, and had now grown slightly and the photograph is shown on the centre and right immediately above this text. The spore print of this mushroom turned out to be white.
With the latest photographs this species has now been identified as probably being a Dermoloma, if blackening, Dermoloma magicum.

This latter species is a new one to the British fungal list, not because it is rare though. This was difficult for me to identify because all the pictures available show Dermoloma with white or cream gills. All these specimens had brown gills as shown in the photographs. The cap in the specimen above is beginning to show white lines which were not present in the smaller mushrooms. This seems to be a feature of this genus.
PS: There was no sign of this mushroom turning black in colour.
Adur Fungi: Fruiting Bodies (Monthly Guide)

4 November 2004
On the footpath (between the Waterworks Road and the Steyning Road, the clump of Shaggy Parasol were not be seen and all but two of the Common Ink Caps were broken. This is a rarely used footpath and both fungi were in the middle of the path. Instead there were at least four clumps of what appeared to be Sulphur Tuft, growing from a moss-lined tree stump imbedded in the soil and leaf litter. There may be a few pine stumps amongst the Field Maple.
 

Almost at once I was buzzed by a handful of flying insects which included at least one Red Admiral Butterfly, a Silver Y moth, a few Common Darters (dragonfly), and a few hoverflies of two species. One of these nectar seeking insects was the Drone Fly (hoverfly) and the other smaller one is a black colour form of the abundant Episyrphus balteatus.  It is the photograph on the right.
Adur Hoverflies

White Dead Nettles were common, Sow-thistles, Groundsel, Dovesfoot Crane's-bill, Green Alkanet, Hawkweeds, Brambles, Burdock, Wild Basil, and Common Mouse-ear were all noted as in flower, in passing.
Supplementary Images
Adur Levels 2004

2 November 2004
Underneath the Field Maple on a footpath (between the Waterworks Road and the Steyning Road the first mushrooms seen were  were the miniature white Clavulina and Clavaria miniature white fungi followed by a group of three Common Ink Caps, Coprinus atramentarius, and then more of these prominent mushrooms around the tree roots, followed by two early Shaggy Parasols, Macrolepiota rhacodes, on the path.
Adur Fungi: Fruiting Bodies (Monthly Guide)
 

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.
Fungi of Shoreham
Adur Hygrocybe

26 October 2004
Amongst the nettles on the Waterworks Road, the occasional Dovesfoot Crane's-bill was showing much more leaf than the dimunitive plants seen on pastures and on Shoreham Beach. This "weedy" plant is notable as a potential food plant for Brown Argus Butterflies.
 

The Wax Caps of yesterday had now grown and were large enough to try and identify them. The scarlet caps were at least 32 mm in diameter. The fungi are on the path and they are not expected to last. There are 63 species of Hygrocybe found in Britain.
They have been identified as the Dune Wax Cap, Hygrocybe conicoides.

25 October 2004
At least two of the Red Admiral Butterflies have gone into hibernation yet as they were still fluttering around the Ivy and one was disturbed from the muddy footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road.
Adur Butterfly and Moth List 2004
The was a small mushroom on the path, with a conical cap 10 mm in diameter when measured from the side. I have postponed trying to put an instant name to this small mushroom, photographed on the right. This is likely to be a species of wax cap, Hygrocybe,

In the north-west corner of the horse's field, there were still two Greater Knapweed in flower.

14 October 2004
The flock of Long-tailed Tits was still amongst the Hawthorn on the road bank and there were at least twenty of these small birds with a long tail. They seemed to be playing "follow the leader" with one bird leading the others one by one. A Red Admiral Butterfly immediately advertised its presence in the Butterfly Copse (near the Waterworks Road) followed by a Small White Butterfly and then a Comma. There was another Comma on blackberries on the the footpath approach to Mill Hill. Hoverflies were mostly small Syrphus on the Ivy.

11 October 2004
Birds are on the move: on the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, there was between a dozen and twenty mixed tit flock of Long-tailed Tits and Blue Tits. They flew from shrub to shrub from east to west on the road embankment. There was just one Red Admiral Butterfly seen flying off the Ivy.

10 October 2004
At the north-eastern end of the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, a Wall Brown Butterfly basked briefly under the weak sunshine. This species has been seen here before.

7 October 2004
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. There were numerous dragonflies and all of them were Common Darters. One settled on a Bramble leaf and was captured on camera.
 

6 October 2004
On the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, the first butterflies to be seen as the large droplets of rain threatened a deluge were two Comma Butterflies, on the Ivy, close enough for both to fit in the camera frame, followed immediately by a faded, but not ragged, Painted Lady Butterfly which settled on the path for over a minute, during which time just a single Red Admiral fluttered up from the Ivy, before I took shelter from the rain shower.
Butterfly Report

5 October 2004
The large bright blue banded dragonflies that I had unfounded doubts over their identity were Emperor Dragonflies as one was persistantly preying on small insects at the southern end of the Waterworks Road, Old Shoreham. It stayed around around long enough to recognise its markings. A handful of Common Darterswere seen.
A Grey Squirrel scuttled past under the Field Maple, but there were no new fungi amongst the extensive leaf litter.
I discovered a yellow flower on a lightly trampled verge of the Waterworks Road which I did not recognise immediately. I went back for another look and a clearer photograph today after the clouds had dispersed and it looked less likely to rain. This is a Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus, but only 23 cm high with the flower that opened facing north away from the sun.
 

In the Butterfly Copse, there were just one good condition Red Admiral. And the lemony hairs of a White-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lucorum, were spotted. (This identification has not been confirmed.)
Adur Bumblebees

4 October 2004
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 measured 80 mm above the ground in the middle of the path. It gills were white and it is shown in the first two photographs on the left below. This species is Oudemansiella radicata.

On the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, I was surprised by a small butterfly that turned out to be a Small Copper, the first from this area, and a first seen in October. A few Red Admirals were pristine and a Comma Butterfly was in good condition. These latter two butterflies were attracted to the Ivy, along with at least three species of hoverflies including one Helophilus pendulus, a handful of Syrphus hoverflies (with a yellow face and a bright yellow abdomen when viewed from the side) shown in the photograph on the far right above, as well as Drone Flies, Eristalis. There was a handful of Common Darter dragonflies, some mating and taking to flight in tandem.  A Blue Tit flitted between the Ivy and the Hawthorn. The Holly berries were on the bushes and small trees.
Adur Butterfly and Large Moth List 2004
Adur Hoverflies

27 September 2004
A few (4+) Red Admiral Butterflies fluttered over the Brambles on the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road. The path runing parallel with the A27 produced a pristine Wall Brown Butterfly. One was seen on the path earlier in the year. This one flew away rapidly and it did not return. This species of butterfly is easy to miss.
Common Darters were frequently seen, probably about a dozen, and they tended to be overlooked because they are rather familiar. About a third of these dragonflies were red in colour.

I do not know if it was the rain but the gills of the mushroom found yesterday (photographed immediately below) have now turned black. It is one of the Ink Cap Mushrooms, Coprinus.
New Report and Images

26 September 2004
On a footpath (between the Waterworks Road and the Steyning Road, Old Shoreham) under a canopy of Field Maple a strange mushroom poked out of the leaf litter. Its gills had a pale blue-grey hue which is unusual. The gills turned inky black by the following day.
Full Report and Images
Fungi of Shoreham

Two Holly Blue Butterflies and a few Red Admiral Butterflies fluttered over the Brambles on the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road. The same Comma Butterfly of two days previously was seen with its wings open again.
Adur Butterfly and Large Moth List 2004

24 September 2004
In the north-west corner of the horse's field on the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, A Comma Butterfly and then a Red Admiral arose from the Brambles. A half a dozen Common Darter Dragonflies buzzed around. Two were observed mating.  There were a pair of Lesser Whitethroats and a Robin on the barbed wire fence.
 

Click on the images for enlargements.

I am not really sure (I have not checked yet) whether this is a Common Darter (what I originally thought) or a Ruddy Darter (note the waisted appearance and black legs).

The female, underneath, grabs the male beneath the waist.

21 September 2004
A pristine Red Admiral Butterfly, one Large White, one Small White and a Meadow Brown fluttered above the Waterworks Road where a handful of Green Alkanet, White Campion, Dove's Foot Crane's-bill and one of the Speedwells were in flower amongst the Nettles.
There were two distinctive hoverflies on the ivy with bees, wasps and Drone Flies next (west side) to the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road: the medium sized Helophilus pendulus which I had not recorded before, and the large colourful Volucella zonaria illustrated below. A few more Red Admiral Butterflies flew over the ivy with one Comma Butterfly further up the path. A handful of Common Darter Dragonflies showed.
A Green Woodpecker flew across the horse's field, with its characteristic dipping flight.
Adur Butterflies
Adur Hoverflies

16 September 2004
At southern end of the Waterworks Road a Speckled Wood Butterfly fluttered by. On the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road amongst the Brambles and Elderberry near the north-east corner of the horse's field, three Comma Butterflies and five Red Admirals were seen within less than a minute.
 

Xanthoria parietina, Lichens covered the branches of the Elderberry Trees	The Comma Butterfly remained still for over a minute on the Bramble leaf	Hoverfly, probably Eristalis

There were no butterflies in the Butterfly Copse but a few hoverflies. I think the Bramble bushes have a sunnier aspect and this may be more favourable to butterflies later on in the year. A Wheatear flew over the horse's field.
Adur Hoverflies

15 September 2004
The Butterfly Copse (near the Waterworks Road) failed to produce a single butterfly, although there was a Syrphus hoverfly. I wish I could recognise my birds better because there was a small wren-sized bird seen twice amongst the Brambles and Ash trees and Old Men's Beard and Elderberry, with a distinct yellow-green appearance on its breast. It flew off before I could fasten my binoculars on it to pick out any distinctive markings. It was rather plain though. Its call rather indicated a Chiff-chaff. This bird is common but seems to be noticed more in autumn.
The horse dung had spilt on to the footpath with two Panaeolus sphinctrinus mushrooms growing amongst it..

8 September 2004
The Butterfly Copse (near the Waterworks Road) produced a Speckled Wood Butterfly, very bright Red Admiral, a Holly Blue, a Small White and Comma all within five minutes, disturbed by a dog walker.

 7 September 2004
A lone Wheatear perched on the barbed wire that surrounds the horse's field south-west of Mill Hill Bridge. Their autumn colours are not as bright as the seen on the spring immigrants.
Earlier Record
A lone Red Admiral fluttered over the footpath from the Waterworks Road (skirting the horse's field) to Mill Hill.

4 September 2004
One of the first butterflies of the day was a Comma Butterfly on Ivy in the Butterfly Copse (near the Waterworks Road) accompanied by two Red Admirals. There were scores of Common Wasps, frequent Honey Bees and over a dozen small hoverflies on the Ivy.
 
 

31 August 2004 The large hoverfly Volucella zonaria was nectaring on Ivy  near the Butterfly Copse next to the Waterworks Road. More Images Adur Hoverflies

26 August 2004
In the area of Brambles, there were both two Holly Blue Butterflies and at least four Common Blues including at least one of the attractive blue-brown females.

25 August 2004
After yesterday's rain deluge it was perhaps no surprise to see the reappearance of the Conocybe mushrooms on the previously dried horse's dung. There were a pair of Holly Blue Butterflies on the Brambles, with most of the berries still red or green. The Common Darter Dragonfly was amusing the way it moved its head independently of its body. Although, very briefly, a mere fraction of a second, the highlight of the brief detour was the appearance of the grey-brown bird with a yellow stripe on its face, probably a Willow Warbler, although it could have been a Chiff-chaff.  Both birds are frequent in the wooded countryside, but are rarely seen by the causal walker. Underneath the bramble scrub, a first year Froglet was incongruous in the horse dung area of the narrow path. A Wall Brown Butterfly quickly took to shelter underneath the fence bars on an overcast afternoon.
Adur Butterfly and Large Moth List 2004
Fungi of Shoreham

22 August 2004
The road embankment on the south side of the A27 flyover as it crosses the Waterworks Road (at the edge of the horse's field) hosted two female Chalkhill Blue Butterflies crawling over the small prostrate leaves of Horseshoe Vetch. They seem to have a preference for the prostrate form of Horseshoe Vetch rather than the upright form/variety on the Slonk Hill bank.
 

The large* brown flying insect in the photograph above was the second time this unidentified and ominous-looking arthropod has been seen in this area. I associated this insect with horse's dung. (* Britain's largest fly.) I had an the impression that it was about to ambush a butterfly, not the Common Blues present but a Meadow Brown.
The insect has been identified as the Hornet Robber Fly, Asilus crabroniformis, (a Biodiversity Action Plan species).

Butterflies on the path up to Mill Hill included a few Common Blues and Meadow Browns, and one Wall Butterfly. There was another Myathropa florea hoverfly.

20 August 2004
As well as a pair of Speckled Wood Butterflies, a Red Admiral and a couple of Small Whites, a splendid Migrant Hawker Dragonfly settled very briefly. There were several Myathropa florea hoverflies.
Adur Hoverflies
 

19 August 2004
Just the second magnificent site of a female Emperor Dragonflythis year, flying to and fro under the canopy of the Butterfly Copse (TQ 209 063) near the Waterworks Road, with over a dozen Common Darters being slightly furtive. The Common Darters all had  very green thoraces. Another large blue dragonfly was seen was probably a Southern Hawker Dragonfly (but the identity could not be confirmed). OneSpeckled Wood Butterfly, a fresh Red Admiral and a Holly Blue Butterfly showed.
 

13 August 2004
On a breezy (Force 6) day, a hurried visit to the Butterfly Copse (TQ 209 063) produced fast flying dragonflies which looked like Common Darters, plus three species of butterfly within one minute: Red Admiral, Holly Blue and Comma in the order in which they appeared.

12 July 2004
Morning
There are several hundred Stinging Nettle plants along the Waterworks Road, Old Shoreham, but relatively few, just two in at least a thousand visibly hosted the caterpillars of the Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly.
A Song Thrush was using the road as an anvil to noisily smash up a snail.
On the horse dung, next to the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, there were now two species of fungi. One was a species of Conocybe (see below) and other (with black gills in the photograph below) looked like Panaeolus sphinctrinus to my inexperienced eye.
Fungi of Shoreham
 

A handful of Gatekeeper Butterflies were flitting around the hedgerows/scrub under an overcast sky. There were half a dozen Cinnabar Moth caterpillars on one Ragwort plant.
 
 

28 June 2004
A Large Red Damselfly was resting on some of the many Stinging Nettles in the Butterfly Copse with the hoverfly Myathropa florea shown in thephotograph below on the left.

Further up the footpath near the pile of horse dung, a Common Darter Dragonfly was alternately resting and then darting.
 

21 June 2004
In the Butterfly Copse (TQ 209 063), there was one Blue-tailed Damselfly, Ischnura elegans, and at the top on the footpath one Common Darter was easily seen. Dried out, but a few of the Conocybe toadstools remained on the horse dung.
Adur Damselflies and Dragonflies

15 June 2004
On the footpath approach to Mill Hill from the Waterworks Road, a handful of  Meadow Brown Butterflies, at least two Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies, and at least one Common Blue Butterfly and one Small Blue Butterfly were seen.
Adur First Butterfly Dates 2004
Under a almost cloudless blue sky, the air temperature reached 28.8 ºC in the early afternoon.

13 June 2004
On the footpath and Horse's Fields on the way to Mill Hill, a Small Blue Butterfly and a Meadow Brown were seen on the footpath at the top of the road embankment.

9 June 2004
A Stoat surprised me with an acrobatic U-shaped jump as it bounded away from the wooden shed (used to store horse feed) in the horse's field immediately to the west of the entrance of the Waterworks House, Old Shoreham (at the foot of Mill Hill). This area has been known to provide a habitat for Stoats but this is still the first record since these Nature Notes pages were started in 1998 and before that as well.

A bird that appeared about the size of a feral pigeon, but with a flight and silhouette halfway between a Kingfisher and a Mallard took to the air. The flight was direct (not undulating) like a jet taking off, but there were not red to be seen or the whirring flight of a Partridge. Although its bill was straight rather than hooked, it looked a bit too hawk-like and quick to take off for a female Pheasant. This bird has been subsequently recognised as a Green Woodpecker, (which usually has a dipping flight).

Flowering plants in the field included Bee Orchid, Germander Speedwell, Scarlet Pimpernel, Selfheal, Buttercups and Dove's-foot Crane's-bill.
 

Bee Orchid in the same field as the Stoat

On the Waterworks Road there was one Small White Butterfly, one Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly and one Red Admiral Butterfly. In the Butterfly Copse (TQ 209 063), there was one Speckled Wood Butterfly.
Adur Levels 2004

6 June 2004
The first positive Wall Brown Butterfly of the year in the lower Adur valley was seen on the path between the Waterworks Road (Old Shoreham) and Mill Hill (south of the A27 Shoreham by-pass).
 

Wall Brown Butterfly This butterfly will invariably land on paths and walls	Milkwort Plant on the edge of the path: its leaves were not easily discernable.

It flew strongly and it was tricky to confirm the identification (this butterfly may be underrecorded) and even more tricky to photograph. The Wall Brown Butterfly was seen on and over the bridleway path running west to east and next to the road embankment.
Adur Butterfly List 2004
Adur Butterflies Flight Times
Adur First Butterfly Dates 2004
The Conocybe mushrooms were still growing on the horse dung heap as illustrated below.

23 May 2004
On the Waterworks Road near the Butterfly Copse (TQ 209 063) a Speckled Wood Butterfly settled and there was another Speckled Wood in the ivy and nettle copse itself.

On the edge of the horse's field on the south-west approaches of Mill Hill, (south of the A27 main road), on the pile of dung next to the footpath two clumps of about 20 mushrooms were growing. It is a species of Conocybe. There are seventy nine species of Conocybe found in Britain.

Fungi of Shoreham
Adur Fungi: Fruiting Bodies (Monthly Guide)
Adur Levels 2004

13 May 2004
A Peacock Butterfly fluttered and settled briefly on the footpath from the Waterworks Road to Mill Hill.

6 May 2004
The first butterfly of the year in the ivy copse on the footpath from the Waterworks Road to Mill Hill was a Speckled Wood. One Common Carder Bee, Bombus pascuorum,  was present, recognised by its orange furry abdomen, and there was another one on Mill Hill.
Adur Bumblebees

15 April 2004
A hoverfly, a common species, probably Syrphus ribesii settled amongst the mostly Stinging Nettles and a few other wild flowers on the Waterworks Road:
 

	Left: Forget-me-not Although several wild species of Myostis occur this looks like a cultivated garden plant in the wild.	Above, centre and right: Green Alkanet, Pentaglottis sempervirens This is an alien species that is naturalised common and widespread in the wild in Britain.

A Common Lizard, Zootoca vivipara, skittered across the footpath just south-west of the bridge over the A27 on the route to Mill Hill.
The following pictures were taken on the path up to Mill Hill:
 
 

Germander or ?? Field Speedwell and a 7-Spot Ladybird	Dog Violet

Greater Periwinkle, Vinca major, was in flower on the western verges of Mill Hill Road in the area by the houses and was probably present elsewhere.

Adur Levels 2004