December, the last meet of 2021 - and a look back

Our Meet on 19th December 2021 took place on a very misty morning but there was a good turnout with plenty to do. Song Thrushes were now singing after a long silence over the autumn. Robins, wrens, and Dunnock were heard too. A Little Egret was seen early on over the river, brilliant white even in the mist.

Looking back it seems that the brief summer was a long time ago - a short season, here one day and gone the next, no endless days with gradual mellowing of fruits and ripening berries. The fruit trees all did well but at different times, as intended.

The fruits of late August. 

Note that there are plenty more in the background, on other trees, at different stages of ripening. The weather then became cooler and cloudy but in September became hot again.

The contrasts continued with sighings of hardy dragonflies such as Common Darters and butterflies such as Red Admirals continuing  activity late into the year. Perhaps this will be the future pattern, with larger swings from hot to cold and cold to hot throughout the year....

November - Autumn leaves at last!

A brilliant turnout on a brilliant day - our meet on Sunday 28th November 2021 took place on a fine sunny day but cold, with patches of ice in places. The sun had brought out the birds which lost no time in foraging rapidly through the trees, where even the oaks were losing leaves now.

Most leaves on this tough old oak were turning yellow  and some 

very small leaf buds were appearing but there was no sign of any acorns.

Fallen leaves did not pose a problem for the group. Left where they fall, 

leaves provide habitat for insects and protect the ground underneath

from frost and ice. Most birds and small mammals instinctively 

throw leaves aside, scrabble and dig underneath in order to uncover

insects and spiders, a rich source of food.

The group, including very welcome visitors, went for the worst areas for litter and discarded rubbish

and made short work of the task whilst two of the group continued with the ongoing survey of possible candidates for the ancient and veteran tree inventory in the district. Plans are being made for the planting of more hedgerow trees in the late winter to fill existing gaps.

 

October - Extreme Weather on our meet

October 31st 2021, the day of our meet, demonstrated what we could call extreme weather here in Sussex. The torrential rain and sudden squalls only lasted whilst our meet lasted and as soon as we had finished, the weather cleared - but the rain was continuous whilst it lasted, starting early in the morning. Those who decided to attend were soaked but collected a considerable amount of litter despite the conditions.

Birds and mammals made themselves invisible with a frog and three Magpies the only sightings.

The mornings torrential rain did not result in any 'river out of bank' incidents here - the drainage basins and ponds had collected more rainwater about ten days previously which had quickly soaked away.

The sight of butterflies in the autumn is quite often a surprise but Red Admirals are always an exception in this area where mature Ivy plants form part of the hedgerows:

A Red Admiral butterfly basking on a late bramble leaf amongst 

a late patch of nettles. Their large wings can effectively absorb heat 

from the sun even on winter days.

Here in Sussex Red Admirals have been seen on almost every day of the year.

This year to date Red Admirals have been seen in November on almost every sunny day, the latest so far having been seen on 16th November after a clear frosty morning.

September ends with sudden changes

 The day of our meet - 26th September 2021 was rather sombre with dark clouds keeping light levels low and not much leaf fall yet. Despite this robins were now singing, only short songs and 'chinks' some loud and assertive. Contact-calling Chiffchaffs could still be heard too, mingling with other small birds in Oaks and Field Maples. This years tree planting of Hawthorns and Hazels is doing well in the gaps and vegetation growth in general has exceeded all expectations with flowering plants attracting many insects throughout the summer:

Fleabane flowers have been abundant this year, attracting Small Copper 

butterflies mostly in warm grassland areas. They can still be seen in October, given fine 

dry autumn weather. These strong fliers are small and are not seen in large numbers.

All butterflies need shelter in bad weather therefore their habitat is exceptionally important,

with a diversity of grasses and wild flowers, bank vegetation, wild fruits and sunny gravel areas too.

Work for the day was completed before the sun appeared in the afternoon but this was not to last with wind and torrential rain following that night. That's typical of autumn and a trigger for the last migrant birds to leave. The river water levels had been steadily declining so it was good to see some rain at last. 

High Summer Meet in August

 Our Meet on 22nd August 2021was held on a bright, warm, sunny and humid day more typical of summer than our July meet, but with rainclouds hovering in the wings, ready to displace the sun at any minute. Wildlife is adapting to what is likely to be a short summer and butterflies are no exception. It has been good to see so many Gatekeepers about at last but they have a short flight time and are usually scarce by the end of August. They are an indicator of healthy ecology where hedgerows are allowed to grow old and strong with a good diversity of native species bordering wild meadows. They can often be seen chasing other species of butterflies which invade their territory along a hedge.

Gatekeeper butterfly (Pyronia tithonus) with another in the background, nectaring with many other small insects.

Butterflies, Dragonflies and other insects together with amphibians and small mammals keep the riverside active whilst birds are mostly still quietly hiding.  Robins will soon break the silence....

The July Storm

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

Our Meet yesterday - Sunday 25th July 2021 was one of uncertainties - will anyone brave the elements or will it be completely washed out?  If not - what will we find ? 

As it happened the rain had lessened somewhat before 09.00, encouraging some of us to set out early, only to experience a downpour on setting out. This time the massive oaks did not provide much shelter, the direct downward weight of the rain overcoming canopies in full leaf. We continued nevertheless with the rain turning to light drizzle and abating for almost two hours. By the time the rain started again, we had finished, There has been far less rubbish to collect  so far this summer than last year.  The weather  took a turn for the worse in the afternoon when the area took a direct hit from a torrential rainstorm followed by a close thunderstorm. This drifted away gradually threatening to return several times. As soon as the rain struck, birds had retreated to cover and stayed put until well after the thunderclouds had gone. Woodpigeons were the exception, some flying out from the trees undeterred.

As there was no wind, damage was only done by the weight of the rain battering down grasses and more fragile plants and leaves.

The next morning after the rain, on Monday 26th July 2021:

One of the embankment fruit trees bearing a good crop

of undamaged fruit  with many weeks to go before they will be ripe.

The embankment grasses were somewhat flattened by the rain but recovering and drying out, with Gatekeeper butterflies attending, attracted by thistle and Senecio jacobaea flowers.

These butterflies also patrol the Hornbeam hedgerows keeping to the sunny side.

The Green June Meet

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

Our Meet on Sunday 27th June 2021 took place before the rain came on an overcast day. The riverside walk and surroundings had escaped much littering - the weather again being unsuitable for such pastimes apart from a refuge under an oak providing shelter from the rain on the cycle path.

With green vegetation growing quickly in the warming humid drizzle and occasional bursts of hot sunlight, the countryside was fast transforming into a 'tropical rainforest' with invertebrate life abundant. Birds were making up for lost time, many busy with second broods with no shortage of insect food for their young.

Not all insects benefit from drizzle however, especially butterflies. The Holly Blue butterfly appeared late this year but the Hollies and Ivies it uses, being evergreen, provide good shelter from rain. In spring, Bramble blossom provides nectar for it to feed on and patches of the earliest blossom were few and far between, in sunny locations.

The female Holly Blue has a distinctive wide black border  on

the forewings and all Holly Blues have small dark dots on the 

'silvery' underside without any orange colouring.

As  bright bonus on such a a grey day, a kingfisher was seen making a fast flypast under the footbridge, low over the river.

see date for next meet.

May Delayed

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

Our May Meet took place on 23rd May 2021 on a day typical of May this year, cool, becoming windy.

The month had been cooler and windier than in recent years with signs of spring delayed by about two weeks. This continued to be the case in the flowering of wild flowers, trees coming into leaf, blossom appearing and migrant birds nesting.

Our work was carried out according to the current HDC COVID-19 restrictions with activities such as hauling a trolley out of the river postponed until our next meet on 27th June 2021when we were expecting Lockdown to have been lifted on 21st. The haul was not large as the wild May weather had put off plans for litter generating outdoor activities. 

Fruit blossom after the wind and rain. The results this year will probably be very varied depending on location, with some areas sheltered from the wind, rain and hail. Different varieties have very different blossoming times as well. Certainly all the trees have blossomed this spring.

The May blossom was late enough to avoid much damage. This is a Hawthorn tree planted as part of a protective hedge with Hazel and Hornbeam, with fruit trees here and there all of which have borne fruit each summer.

Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys)

Thought to bring travellers good luck on their way. Seldom noticed by passers-by in recent times - due to the speed with which people travel ... we hope it will survive to brighten verges and corners.

 

April 2021 - but no showers

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

Our April 2021 meet was held on Sunday 25th April - a fine clear start to the day with a cool ENE breeze. The ground was very dry after many days without rain (although it did snow for a short while on 12th!).

Blackthorn blossom appears before the leaves. The blossom remained in bud for longer than usual this spring.

The morning started early with very loud calls from a Grey Heron - an altercation with a Herring Gull - the gull may well have been hoping for a free meal freshly caught on the river or nearby ponds. Later a sparrowhawk was seen sailing above, turning to avoid a gull. Another grey heron or maybe the same one was seen by two of group that morning. 

It was a successful meet with a family group making short work of removing a muddy discarded trolley from the river bed and another family group collecting a large amount of  litter previously hidden from sight. Others worked their separate ways ways along collecting litter. Hopefully the constraints of working according to Covid - 19 protocol will only last another month or so.

Our next meet is on Sunday 27th JUNE 2021. (see NEXT MEET) 

A New beginning in March 2021

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

Our meet for March 2021 was held on Sunday 28th working  according to the Covid-19 instructions for the first easing of Lockdown which began on 8th March. Before this date group members had not been idle however, using the opportunities during exercise walks to clear litter along the riverside walk. Group members on this meet were joined by several new helpers, colleagues of one of our regular group members who helped to make distanced light work of planting 30 donated hedging (Hazel and Hawthorn) trees along the riverside where they were needed to fill gaps, whilst most of our regular group continued with litter collection, working singly distanced across the whole area.

This flowering Cuckooflower plant ( Cardamine pratensis ) was seen on the damp river bank during our meet on 28th March. It is the food plant of the Orange tip butterfly which should be appearing soon, ranging across the banks, one of the first butterflies of spring.

2021 and another Lockdown on the Riverside

 January 6th 2021 and another Lockdown. This meant that our January Meet, scheduled for Sunday 31st was postponed, meanwhile the group were permitted by HDC to carry out litter collection whilst out on individual exercise walks - and what a difference this made to the landscape! The weather was cold, with the ENE wind dominating and temperatures down to 3 degrees C. 

See Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation for the full survey for 31st January 2021.

Later in the month it became warmer with rain.

Long awaited by wildlife, Ivy berries eventually ripened, attracting numerous bird species:

Often overlooked by humans as dark and unattractive, they are instantly visible to birds once ripe and provide food just as other berries are becoming scarce. The flowers had been attracting butterflies in the autumn, especially Red Admirals but also many other insects which in turn provided food for birds before frosts and snow arrived.

Never underestimate the value of Ivy to wildlife throughout the year.

February 2021 - and the Lockdown continued, with group members busy on exercise walks as before, even in the snow- flurries that arrived during the second week. It felt too cold for snow and the wind just blew away any that had settled. The NE wind gave way to SW winds and warmer weather later in the month, bringing a welcome hint of spring before temperatures fell again, 

Our February Meet scheduled for Sunday 28th was again postponed as the restrictions were unchanged.

A sure sign of spring is always the appearance of Lesser Celandine flowers bursting through last years fallen leaves and dry grasses at the first sign of sunlight bringing warmth to the ground:

Lesser Celandine on the river bank 24th February 2021

Our Meet on 28th March 2021 will go ahead according to the first step of the un-lockdown - which commenced on 8th March 2021 please see NEXT MEET.