Song thrushes in the Holly

 OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

Our December Meet

This was held last Sunday 20th.   Following Tier 2 protocol, work was light today as weather, new security fencing and preparations for Christmas had reduced the amounts of rubbish encountered along the muddy route. Conditions for wildlife were good however.  The weather was not cold but there were some heavy showers, with no shelter for humans now that most of the trees are bare. The river was running high and fast,  with several robins singing. Song thrushes have been singing too in recent days with some loud bursts of short song today. They are not choosing prominent perches but prefer to stay hidden amongst evergreens in the hedges. Hollies are perfect and still retain some less accessible berries.

Holly and a blue sky.

These berries were on a single long branch more difficult to reach for thrushes but will be taken by small 

birds later. Fieldfare and redwing are present but not in large numbers.

November ends with a winter migrant from the south

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

 Our meet on 29th November 2020 took place with activities reduced according to Lockdown 2 rules  - not really a meet or a gathering but each person working on their own task.

The weather was cloudy and cool with no wind, dry but very damp and muddy underfoot. The river was running well with levels back to normal after high levels two weeks before when there was water out of bank in places on 15th November.

The winter migrant was a Little Egret which did not have far to fly, coming from the south coast. There are usually two or three which make their way north when the weather turns cold and frosty on the wetlands near the south coast. Foraging is easier along the warm inland stretches of the river with mature trees and high banks providing protection. (see summary for November on Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation ).

Earlier in the month the bright pink of the fruits of the Spindle tree began to brighten the banks.

The robins have already established their territories - usually one robin to one spindle tree or perhaps a pair. The trees are closely guarded until no fruits remain.

October Hail and Rain

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

Our October Meet

 Sunday 25th October 2020 was a typical autumn day with very fast-changing conditions. At dawn it seemed that the rain would last all day, after all, British Summertime had vanished under the clouds. A quick change before our meet was due to start saw the clouds receding fast on the horizon, with birds starting to sing and a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling loudly from an Ash tree -  but as we dispersed to various locations along the river, the light went and hail dropped from the Oaks, battering leaves and acorns not yet fallen, Trying to shelter was impossible, the heavy hail crashing through. It became icy cold too.

After the hail: the river was speeding up with twig islands popular with bathing birds now invisible

and water carrying some silt from upstream obscuring interesting features of the river bed, tangled branches and roots and maybe one or two bicycles.

25th October 2020.

Dense undergrowth protected small mammals and birds during the short hailstorm with undergrowth shelter added to by a profusion of fallen mossy twigs  from trees during the strong gales of the previous night.

Raining Acorns - Our September 27th 2020 Meet

 THE HILLS FARM CONSERVATION GROUP NEWS for OUR MEET on SEPTEMBER 27th

can be found on  HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION just for this date.

back to normal for OCTOBER!

Next meet is on Sunday 25th October 2020

August 2020 - The Weather breaks up at last.

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife click on:

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Our meet on Sunday 23rd August 2020 was the first since 'Lockdown' when we did not find excessive amounts of litter and rubbish left by picnics and 'antisocial gatherings' of people unused to life in the outdoor world. Nevertheless we had to hold an 'emergency' clear up earlier in August when piles of litter had been left in one area.and more litter scattered along the paths. Fortunately there were no discarded boxes of chicken and chips!

Large numbers of butterflies were seen throughout the month, dodging the rain showers and clouds and birds welcomed each successive shower dampening their foraging territories.

Speckled Wood butterfly on brambles. 

They can often be found flying in cloudy conditions and prefer dappled shade under trees. Their flying time over the year is longer than most other butterflies - they can still be seen when the hours of daylight are diminishing in the autumn.

Note - our next meet is on Sunday 27th September 

The End of July and Another Challenge

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife - click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Sunday 26th July was cool and damp after rain the day before. There was a light breeze which strengthened in the afternoon. Rain held off until the afternoon.

Unfortunately we were restricted to working mostly in the area north of the East Arun Bridge, the rest of the area having been occupied by a convoy of very smart caravans and cars. There was enough to do however to clear glass bottles and plastics in the north area. Adhering to the same protocol as on our previous meet at the end of June, activity was limited to litter collecting.

Previous days this month had been exceptionally good for butterflies, with the first recording of very active Marbled White butterflies on the bridge embankments. 

Less active and quite often seen this month has been the Peacock butterfly - not easy to miss!

This Peacock butterfly was perching in the sun on a flowering thistle on the North embankment

July 2020

The end of June 2020 - and partial un-lockdown continues

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife - click on:

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Sunday 28th June 2020 was our first scheduled meet since 23rd February 2020 as our scheduled meets for March, April and May had to be postponed due to the HDC COVID-19 protocol for HDC Conservation Volunteer work.

Fortunately we were able to hold an interim meet on 14th June after the partial un-lockdown took place.

Action was needed to clear excessive piles of litter thrown down in some places on our route along the riverside. Throughout the past weeks we have witnessed numerous cases of excessively bad behaviour mostly from people not local to the area. 

June 28th was partially overcast and windy but this was welcome after the intense heat of the previous week.

The amount of work needed was lighter than usual as it was only two weeks since the previous meet but the nature of our work is also still restricted for health and safety reasons.

On the positive side:

The growth of grasses and wild flowers, the proliferation of bees,  butterflies, dragonflies and many more insects have all benefitted breeding birds, amphibians and small mammals - for which we have to thank the changes in grass cutting schedules  - less means a lot more! It means life as opposed to extinction.

Common Blue butterfly  Polyommatus icarus

on Dandelion spent seed head 14th May 2020.

A Partial Un-lockdown from June 1st 2020

The news from HDC is that Conservation Volunteers will now be allowed to carry out a restricted set of tasks, working in line with the latest social distancing rules. 

This means that our next scheduled meet will go ahead on Sunday 28th June. We may be able to arrange interim meets if HDC can ensure that our 'haul' is collected as usual when we finish. 

They will let us know.

The continuous fine weather has allowed magnificent growth

and flowering of riverside trees and shrubs attracting bees and butterflies, providing

natural shelter for birds, especially migrant warblers which can sit and sing from the branches, safe from ambush by sparrowhawks.

Lockdown for conservation group volunteers...

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife here, click on:

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Our March Meet was scheduled for Sunday 29th but this had to be postponed, together with the meets for April and May. HDC will let us know when Volunteer work can recommence

 (see the latest post for update or NEXT MEET).

The weather of course was better than it had been on our previous meets but was very windy.

The first signs of a Hawthorn Hedge springing to life - 

bright green leaves. Blackthorn leaves however follow much

later, after a riot of blossom.

Hawthorn blossom will appear in May - hence Mayflower.

Birds Announce the Arrival of Spring

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find nature notes and records for wildlife - click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Sunday 23rd February 2020 was an overcast day with misty light rain, clearing later. There had been very strong gales overnight and it remained too windy for our banner to be displayed during our Meet, for the first time ever since it was made. The river levels had receded somewhat but the water was still flowing fast and muddy.

Despite the amount of rainfall and lack of sunshine, many birds were heard singing loudly, including wrens, dunnock, robins, nuthatch and of course song thrushes and house sparrows. Mallard duck were about and many quietly croaking common frogs were seen with growing patches of frog spawn in the sheltered margins of the ponds. It certainly looked as if spring was advancing.

The broad leaves of Wild Garlic growing strongly on the river bank, usually one of

the first signs of spring, but quickly overtaken by other plants

- the wild garlic flowering much later.

Ivy - the best for winter wildlife

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find nature notes and records for wildlife here - click on:

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

The day of our January 2020 meet on 26th was yet another overcast day with intermittent light drizzle in the morning turning to heavy rain during the afternoon and evening, fortunately long after we had finished work. Birds were very active during the morning, with song thrushes and robins singing loudly, a moorhen active on the bank and several dunnock foraging along a verge.

Most wildlife activity however was concentrated amongst the Ivy clumps, with eager blackbirds, more song thrushes, wood pigeons, collared doves, and a few fieldfare and redwing foraging.

The attraction was the presence of ripe Ivy berries which appear 

after most of the brighter berries have long since been stripped,

with Hawthorn and Holly the first to go. Only the bright Dog Rose hips remain and those are growing far out on fragile high twigs overhanging the river. Even heavy birds can reach these dark Ivy berries which hang close to their support plants, although woodpigeons frequently tumble upside down in order to grab them. Groups of other birds such as goldfinches and house sparrows were singing from their sheltered perches in amongst the large leaves.

It is fortunate that the Ivy is retained and only removed if threatening to topple a tall tree, as it provides so many benefits to a large diversity of wildlife throughout the year.