Autumn Approaches - a Summary of August

The extremes of late July thankfully over, the riverside resumed its gentle progression into autumn with huge numbers of bees (many species) and Gatekeeper butterflies on the creeping thistles and native wild flowers and grasses. Although not a first in this area, some Emerald Damselflies (Lestes sponsa) were seen in the river where they seldom appear due probably to the flow of the water. This August there was a section of slow-moving water for a while until the rain came.The dense aquatic vegetation protected them. Male and female Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle Damselflies were seen in the usual places along the river and banks when the sun shone and some were even seen over the river at the new East Arun bridge construction site where it was sheltered from the wind by temporary walkways for the construction workers. Their presence is a good indication of water quality.

During the second week of August occasional cloudbursts cooled the air but conditions remained mostly warm and humid. After some heavy rain on 9th Gatekeeper butterflies thronged the thistle and bramble patches and a Small Copper butterfly was seen too amidst the more common butterflies such as Large Whites and Meadow Browns. Moths were emerging from their sheltered grasses when the sun appeared.

The Small Copper is easy to identify - not only is it very small but it has 

bright orange forewings and band on the hind wings - with distinctive black spots.

Southern Hawker Dragonflies were quite numerous this year, patrolling their territories along the banks. The weather was a lot cooler on 13th although sunny later.   A walk over a rough area of field with a good variety of wild grasses and flowers proved to hold plenty of interest as many butterflies were seen here. Large Whites, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers were common but others were quite new, including Common Blues, Small Heath and Brown Argus.

Brown Argus, a very small but distinctive butterfly, very active.

Like the Small Heath, this butterfly was flying low and perching

very near the ground, easy to miss. Two or three others were seen

not far away.

Elsewhere, not far away, thousands of bees, species of Hoverfly, 

and some day-flying moths were seen on creeping thistle, Knapweed, umbellifers

and daisy species.

The following day 14th, it was much cooler with rain most of the time, then on the day of our meet, Sunday morning 18th, everyone out and about was soaked. However house sparrows were singing loudly in a dense hedgerow.

Records for the end of August, including a full survey on 30th will follow soon…

The Day after the Hottest Day - July 2019

Friday 26th July 2019 - time for a wildlife survey along the riverside.  

The day was cloudy and very damp after a night of thunder and lightening, with one very heavy cloudburst. The river was running fast but not high and the heat the day before had had little effect as the ground had remained damp. Most of our planted trees were fruiting well with other trees such as Oaks having very young acorns forming. Hawthorn and Blackthorn were showing new berries - food in plenty for wildlife later in the year.

The wet vegetation filled the air with a mixture of scents, with Meadowsweet dominating on some of the river banks and in the wild field.

Meadowsweet has flourished this July and transformed the riverside here. Amongst it are other flowering plants such as Bird's foot Trefoil and Fleabane.

The plants here form perfect habitat for birds and amphibians and the two river meadows remain an active location for hibernating reptiles - their ancestors having been translocated from neighbouring fields nine years ago.

Wild flowers and grasses elsewhere were prolific too with good mixes of fruiting brambles, thistle, vetch, clovers and honeysuckle all attracting insects such as overflies and bees, even in the cloudy weather. As soon as the clouds cleared, more bees headed for the thistles, and the butterflies appeared too. Meadow Browns, still present, Ringlets, Speckled Woods, Large Whites and Gatekeepers, the most numerous by far now.

Woodpigeons were busy nesting with some calling loudly (27), whilst starlings were elsewhere - only 5 seen here. Two collared doves were nesting in the ivy, only 3 carrion crows but 6 magpies and two rooks were seen with jackdaws absent. Herring gulls (16) were seen in some areas but no black-headed gulls today. Singing is not the priority for most birds now - blackbirds (15) were seen silently foraging, some still collecting food for young  but song thrushes (7) were singing together with wrens (15) which were probably still guarding their territories amongst the river bank roots. Robins were scarce (6) with juveniles most visible. As usual dunnocks were in hiding with only 3 seen. Blue and great tits were not seen in large numbers either (12 and 10) but it was good to see three coal tits, very close, two of them juveniles in the oaks and nearby high calls revealed two goldcrests with another in conifers (3).  Further south a group of 9 long-tailed tits were foraging high in the canopy and a single chiffchaff called (a contact call). In the same area, well hidden amongst willow leaves a blackcap made a very short song then two more, probably juveniles were seen in the same willow (3).

Over the past few weeks the noise from a roller levelling off a sports field has been disturbing the usually peaceful area but did not seem to affect birds much. The work has finished now and the area will be seeded and left to grow and settle over the winter. Wildlife will take over - it will be interesting to see which species.

Meanwhile, work was still going on during this survey but there were loud cries from a green woodpecker close by, forging for ants,  and a treecreeper was seen in the shade making its way up a tall tree trunk. Nuthatches were seen in several places - a family group of juveniles were calling to each other in a dense oak and nearby field maple (7).

Young green Hazelnuts on Hazel tree. 

Soon the ground underneath the trees will be littered with green nut shells and leaves - a sign that  jays and squirrels are plundering the unripe nuts.

Two great-spotted woodpeckers were seen - one alerting me with a loud call, the other flying across from an old ash tree, meanwhile a sparrowhawk dashed from a thicket and flew out of sight. Sparrowhawks often lurk along the river hoping to ambush sparrows or even woodpigeons bathing in the shallows. Today there were fewer house sparrows than usual seen (27) many of them juveniles, the adults still nesting, raising another brood. Goldfinches however were more numerous, with about 35 seen, again many of them juveniles, taking advantage of the seeding wild flowers and grasses. Teasels,  thistles and dock are the main attraction at this time of the year and will remain so throughout the winter. They are now forming singing groups, choosing dense thickets for protection. A single silent female bullfinch was seen flying into a thicket and just one chaffinch was seen too.

Checking the river during the cloudy weather did not reveal any dragonflies or damselflies but these were seen on other days. (will be in a separate post during August).

Whilst looking down onto the water however, a  kingfisher flew down from a bare branch over the river and disappeared around the steep bank.