peacock

Ferring Conservation Group carried out three surveys this year as part of The Big Butterfly Count. This is the world’s biggest survey of butterflies and last year, during lock-down, 111,628 participants submitted results with a staggering total of 1.4 million individuals counted. Sadly, 2020 was not a good year for many species and because of the hot spring and early summer followed by a wet late summer, many butterfly cycles were over before the counts began.

Small tortoiseshell

The first two counts were along the Rife. In the North Lagoon 22 individuals were counted in 15 minutes and 9 individual species. It was a dull, sunless day, not ideal for butterfly counting, but 13 Gatekeepers were found.  A beautiful, newly-emerged Peacock was seen and it was delightful to see a Small Tortoiseshell. The latter was once very common along the Rife but is now an unusual sighting.

In the South Lagoon only 5 species and 13 individuals with 9 being

Wall moth

Gatekeepers were spotted. Although no Silver-y, ones of the day-flying moths on the list were sighted, several Shaded Broad-bar and a tiny Mint moth or Small Purple and Gold were counted, and these are common visitors to garden herb beds. A sunny day should have improved the count.

The third count took place on Highdown Hill. There were 10 participants and again the weather was not ideal for this important task. A 15 minute count at the top of the Hill resulted in a few butterflies that were flying around during a search around the vegetation. This time 10 species were recorded, with a total count of 32 individuals. There were lots of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers but not a single Marbled White. The most unusual butterfly was a Wall which none of the Group had seen in the vicinity before – this is another declining butterfly species.

Box Tree moth

One rather beautiful, silky-looking, white moth with dark-grey wing margins was seen. This, however, is the dreaded Box Tree Moth whose caterpillars have caused such havoc in gardens with formal box hedges. It is an introduced species from SE Asia, entering Britain in 2007.

Other species noted were yellow and black-striped Cinnabar moth caterpillars on ragwort and some members of the Group were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a Great Green Bush Cricket.

Thirty two people met in the car park at Highdown Hill on Thursday 15^th July – this was the combination of members from both Ferring Conservation Group (FCG) and Shoreham and District Ornithological Society (SDOS). With such a large attendance it was decided to split into groups of 8 with Tricia Hall, Clive Hope, Graham Tuppen and Peter and Ruth Dale as leaders.

Apart from many singing Skylarks, plus one seen carrying food to a nest very close to the path, it was good to see a number of chattering Swallows catching insects over the top of the hill. Only two raptors were spotted, a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk, also a Swift and two Sand Martins, while a Blackcap and Common Whitethroat were in full song.

Tricia Hall handed out a printed list of downland flowers to attendees at the start of the walk and most were found and crossed off, including some additions. Interestingly a Round-headed Rampion was found which had not been seen in the vicinity before. There were large patches of Yellow (Hay) Rattle, the semi-parasite which suppresses grass, and many of the favourite Downland flowers like Small Scabious and Harebells. The rarer Vervain was seen and it was reassuring to discover the Pyramidal Orchids were still growing in small numbers on the reservoir again. Four years ago there were thousands but every year since then the grass on the top of the reservoir has been cut just before they are due to flower.

Ten butterfly species were spotted between the 4 groups and a few day-flying moths, a Maybug and many little grasshoppers. Marbled Whites were plentiful but sadly no blues were seen. The highlight of the morning were the appearance of several Silver-washed Fritillaries on Hemp Agrimony beside the wood at the top of the hill.

After thanking their guides for an interesting and enjoyable morning some members met up for refreshments at the Highdown café or the mobile coffee shop in the car park