Link to News Reports 2005
 

20 July 2004
Management of Widewater Lagoon Nature Reserve  is undertaken by the Widewater Management Committee who meant to discuss aspects relating to the operation of the pipeline and other environmental issues. The full minutes of the meeting held in the afternoon will be available on a web page later for public scrutiny. The operational committee consists of representatives from West Sussex County Council Rural Strategy Unit (the Chairman is Neil Mitchell), Lancing Parish Council (principal land owners), Friends of Widewater Lagoon (FOWL, representing the interest of local resident groups), Shoreham & District Ornithological Society and Adur Valley Biodiversity Network.

28 May 2004
With the noisy earth moving diggers, rusty pipelines etc., the foreshore looked more like a building site for the rock sea defences. 

May 2004
A new barge load of syenite (Larvikite) rock sea defences have arrived from Norway and are being arranged on the shore by Widewater Lagoon. 

The beach has been fenced off to prevent public access.

Link to News 2003

Link to Widewater Reports 2005

29 December 2004
The Mute Swans seemed to be in a querulous mood, one adult intimidating and attempting to frighten off another. The Redshank and Little Egret were also vocal. There were two large ducks on the island. They looked distinctly marked and tame, but I do not recall seeing them before. 

An old dessicated mushroom (photographed on the right) found on an old wooden groyne on the shingle part of Shoreham Beach near the kiosk at the eastern end of Widewater Lagoon car park was possibly a species of Agrocybe. It was incongruous on the beach, but it looked like a common species on a poor condition, so I did not stop to examine it closely. 

15 December 2004
Three Mute Swan cygnets seen near the bridge had nearly lost of their brown feathers and were virtually all white, the remaining dark feathers were on their back. 

1 December 2004
An unidentified wader was seen in the shallows just to the east of the footbridge over Widewater Lagoon. I really did not get a chance to get a look in the poor light, but it was about the size of a Grey Plover, but it had a slightly longer black (or dark) beak, and it was in water deep enough to obscure its legs, picking up visible mouthfuls of mud in its beak, quite unlike the behaviour of the common wading birds seen around.
 

On reflection, I think this is more likely to have been a Turnstone than anything else, the deeper water hiding its orange legs, and its beak looking longer than it was.

Turnstones and Sanderlings have been reported feeding on Widewater, undoubtably encouraged because of the low water levels because of the lack of rain. The Sanderlings will pitter-patter over the beach sand on a low spring tide, but on the neaps and at high tide, I am not sure where they go? 

23 November 2004
Three Little Egrets were feeding in the shallows. The low level of the lagoon, measuring only about 1 metre 35 cm on the gauge, may have been favourable to them (although four Little Egrets have been seen before when the lagoon was in flood). There was a Redshank present as well on the spit at the eastern end, and this bird has been seen before at all states of flood of the lagoon. 

17 November 2004
The Glasswort on the Widewater flood plain that had turned spectacularly red in the last two years, still remains largely green this year. Although the reason could be the elevated lagoon water level because of the new pipeline from the sea, this is not proven or even likely to be the cause. The weather is just as likely to be the reason. Last year the reds were dramatic on the Adur estuary as well, but this year they were also green. 

3 November 2004
There were two chirms of Goldfinches by the scrub next to Widewater of eight and five birds respectively. A Cormorant was diving in the lagoon and a Little Egret fishing in the shallows, as usual.

20 October 2004
As the weather changes the birds are on the move. Two chirms of Goldfinches arrived  One flock over the wild wasteland area between Widewater Lagoon and the beach huts and the sea, numbered at least 16 finches but in the second group over Lancing Beach Green there were only eight birds. There were a handful of pipits, looking more like Rock Pipits than the commoner Meadow Pipits. 

14 October 2004
A couple of Mute Swans appeared to be having a bit of a barney in the shallows of Widewater Lagoon at the eastern end. 

These may have been a quarrel with intruders. This years' cygnets are still greyish in colour. 

12 October 2004
The salinity readings taken by West Sussex County Council Rural Strategy Unit with the electronic meter measured 34.7‰ which is full strength seawater. This matched my hydrometer readings from previous years since the pipeline has been installed. 
Widewater Salinity
The Strong Breeze (Force 6) and showers were from the south and south-east. 

9 September 2004
Sticklebacks have been seen again in Widewater Lagoon. An adult 3-spined Stickleback swam in open water under the bridge, between the fronds of Enteromorpha and Ulva green seaweeds and the straggly Ruppia plants. 

The Sticklebacks have not been seen regularly for about two years. The depth of water in the lagoon measured 1 metre 42 cm on the gauge. 
A pale blueish looking dragonfly flew by too quickly to be identified. It could have been a Southern Hawker. 

September 2004
A Yellow Wagtail was a surprise and colourful visitor to the western end of Widewater Lagoon. This migrant bird is seen on passage through Shoreham and Lancing and there has been one report of a bird staying around for a few days. 

3 September 2004
An immigrant Clouded Yellow Butterfly fluttering over Widewater Lagoon, south Lancing, was a surprise.

The depth gauge by the bridge read 1 metre 55 cm.

1 September 2004
Widewater Lagoon was at a high water level after the spring tides. John Knight (West Sussex CC) will be photographing the height as part of the monitoring of the water levels of the lagoon. If the level gets too high, it hampers the ability of wading birds to feed. 

21 August 2004
Birds everywhere are on the move, with flocks of Starlings of over one hundred over the Hasler Estate (north of Widewater) and three Wheatears flying around Widewater car park east, before embarking on their long migration south. 
There are two groups of Mute Swans on Widewater Lagoon, one with six cygnets and the other group with either six or seven cygnets. The Cladophora fluffy seaweed, also known as Blanketweed is now visible in the lagoon, with Ulva (green algae) and Ruppia (flowering plant). The small fish amongst the straggly Ruppia were Common Gobies, Pomatoschistus minitus, and not Sticklebacks. There were several insects on the surface of the saline lagoon, which I have not identified at the time of writing. No prawns were seen.
Rarely, a Cormorant had found it worthwhile to visit the lagoon.
BMLSS Algae

Early August 2004
A Swallowtail Moth, Ourapteryx sambucaria, was a surprise and colourful observation at the western end of Widewater Lagoon. This spectacular moth may be regarded as nothing special by moth enthusiasts, but to the ordinary nature spotter it is an unusual and usually unrecognised insect when first seen. This is the first report on these Nature Notes pages of a nocturnal native moth with a short flying time in July. 

28 July 2004
Seven Little Egrets all actively feeding in the shallows of Widewater Lagoon was an unprecedented number as there is usually only one, and rarely more than three.

5 July 2004
The Little Egret feeding in the shallow separate lagoon to the west of Widewater (joined up when the lagoon is in flood) was larger than the usual birds, with a long white crest and without a leg ring. 

16 June 2004
The blue of the Viper's Bugloss was looking particuarly impressive this year on the flood plain of the lagoon. It was accompanied in flower by Yellow-horned Poppy and Opium Poppy. 
 

The Mute Swan family with their seven cygnets swam amongst where the straggly weed Ruppia was seen again in the shallow parts of the lagoon near the submerged Tamarisk north of the bridge near the multiple islands. The Ruppia seeds may have been introduced by birds. 

4 June 2004
A foot long (30 cm) pencil thin snake with a forked tongue was reported from a garden on the edge of Widewater Lagoon. It was an Atlantic Eel, Anguilla anguilla.

2 June 2004
A Grey Heron was fishing east of the bridge over Widewater Lagoon. It took off in two short flights, on the second occasion mobbed by a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Grey Herons used to be regular visitors to the lagoon but they have not been seen by me for several months. The Little Egret was present as usual. The water level has risen with the latest spring tides. (The pipeline is open.)

28 May 2004
Despite the pipeline still being open the level is down to 39 mm leaving muddy margins and the bar near the island exposed. A black and white dog disturbed a pair of Ringed Plovers which may be nesting on the Thrift covered flood plain. 
 

There are now seven cygnets, the offspring of the parent Mute Swans that nested on Widewater Island

There were at least two Little Egrets feeding on the lagoon margins, but in the shallow water, there was not the thousands of prawns normally seen, just a score or so were visible. Near the pipeline inlet a dozen Common Gobies, Pomatoschistus microps, could be seen darting to and fro over the silt.

May 2004
A bloom of plankton, probably Phaeocystis pouchetti, has turned the River Adur almost orange and considerably reduced visibility in the enriched sea. The colonies of this flagellate organism Phaeocystis can be seen in the water at over 1 mm long and plankton will be continuous for miles of sea water. The sea is then by various local terms like Slobweed or Baccy Water because of its appearance. When the plankton dies it can create hypoxic conditions and generally the inshore fauna is diminished in quantity and variety. 
The seawater pipeline is on a setting that is not letting in much water so the plankton bloom is less likely to pollute the lagoon. This is fortunate* because the plankton bloom is excessive and it would have caused an unsightly mess (the remains of the dying plankton looks like sewage) in the lagoon. 
*The possibility of plankton blooms in May and June was included in my first and second reports (before the bloom occurred). 
Revised Final Report (Second Draft)

15 May 2004
A year ago a large expanse of the Widewater flood plain was bare gravel because it all had been churned over to construct the new pipeline. 

Colonisation was expected to be swift and one year later the shingle is covered by the blue-violet of Ivy leaved Toadflax, with splatterings of other ground-hugging plants like Scarlet Pimpernel, small patches of Stonewort, clumps of Sea Campion, one or two Bird's Foot Trefoil, and a few small Sea Kale plants. Sea Thrift produced the usual attractive sweeps over the gravel, but none of this had actually sprouted forth from the disturbed ground. A Ringed Plover was well camouflaged against the shingle and plants. 

There were thousands of small prawns, probably Palaemon elegans but there were still no 3-spined Sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, to be seen. There was one new very small fish species though: the Common Goby, Pomatoschistus microps, which was to be expected* with the new pipeline and might have even have occurred before. (* It is found in Hove Lagoon.) A handful were seen, but there are probably hundreds. 

12 May 2004
After the Widewater Lagoon Management Committee meeting, I compiled an article on part of the ecology of Widewater Lagoon relating to salinity, concluding that the seawater pipeline intake would confer advantages to the biodiversity of the lagoon during the summer months but would show little or no benefits during the winter and none around the time of the equinoctial spring tides. 
Article:  Is Widewater Lagoon turning into a Seawater Inlet?
Report and Conclusion

6 May 2004
High spring tides had raised the water level in Widewater Lagoon to 65 mm. 

13 April 2004
A small greenish-brown bird made a short flight immediately in front of me as I cycled past Widewater. It was nestled down amongst the shingle and its camouflage was not all that successful. When it scrambled to action stations it looked exhausted. This bird was most likely an immigrant Chiffchaff, but it did not call. 
Adur Coastal

24 March 2004
A chirm of Goldfinches flying from the vegetation between the beach huts and the lagoon numbered about 16 birds, which is a larger flock than normal for March. 

18 March 2004
On the ridge of the shingle by the beach huts a female Black Redstart stood out where I would expect to see a Ringed Plover. A pair of Ringed Plovers were together on gravel by the pipeline outlet into the lagoon with a feeding Little Egret. Another Little Egret stood statuesque like a Heron in the mist, just to the west of the bridge, (where the gardens were before World War II).

Immigrant Wheatears have been seen on the beach in the last few days. 

10 March 2004
It will come as no surprise to rockpoolers that marine life is coming in through the pipeline from the sea to Widewater Lagoon, the first spores of seaweeds growing on the rocks, was a brown species prevalent in Shoreham harbour. It is not the most attractive of algae and it readily breaks off into loose tufts. I think this group of brown seaweeds is Maiden's Hair, Ectocarpus sp. and similar species which are difficult for non-specialists to identify to species level. This seaweed may be able to tolerate salinity lower than full strength seawater as it will sometimes be found in tidal pools. Some of the small prawns were getting tangled up with small tufts of this seaweed and swimming in a jerky peculiar manner. 
The lagoon now appears to be full strength seawater at a salinity of 35‰ (ppt). Widewater Lagoon may now no longer be regarded as brackish but more like a fully saline seawater inlet like the canal section of Shoreham harbour. The water cannot flow out by a direct route but the lagoon bottom is porous or has holes where the water runs out rapidly when in flood. 
The amount of suspended sediment in the seawater coming through the pipe and being deposited in the lagoon near the outlet is less than I expected. 

11 February 2004
Five Little Grebes (Dabchicks) were on Widewater Lagoon. 

6 January 2004
Amongst the  prefabricated huts on Golden Sands Caravan Park, near Widewater Lagoon, Lancing, a female Black Redstart was recognised.  This bird was not been recorded before on these Nature Notes pages and has probably been overlooked as the bird is plain in colour.  This bird is usually a fairly common Winter Visitor.

WIDEWATER UP TO 2003
 
 

Ringed Plover
Greenfinch  (not so many in the last couple of years)
Goldfinch
Pied Wagtail
House Martin (especially in autumn prior to migration)
Wheatear (especially in autumn prior to migration)

The Habitat Action Plan for Sussex on Saline Lagoons has been published by WSCC. 

UK Biodiversity:  Action Plan for Saline Lagoons

Adur Biodiversity:  Notes on Action Plan

UK Saline Lagoons: Links for more Information

Specific Gravity/Salinity calculations