A few Small Tortoiseshell butterflies have been seen on the Rife. Once exceedingly common, they are now only seen in very small numbers. Their eggs are laid on nettles and there are plenty of these on the Rife so it is unclear why they are in steep decline. If you see any in your garden please report them to me to my email address: pat@pathallpics.co.uk. If you walk up onto Highdown, the Marbled Whites have just emerged. Look out also for the Large and Small Skippers.

If you have an opportunity to travel up to the Knepp Estate on the A24 (only 20 minutes by car from Ferring) you will just catch the young storks before they leave their nest. This is the first time ever for 400 years that storks have bred in this country and right on our doorstep. A unique and wonderful experience which you may have seen on Springwatch.

If you are confined to your garden, look out for all the small ‘bugs’ that are visiting our plants. If you have a herb bed, you may see the delightful little Mint Moth. You could make a list of all the insects that you see in your garden: Ladybirds, Greenflies, Dragonflies, Damselflies, Bees, Wasps, Flies, Hover flies and Beetles.

Yesterday, a Spoonbill was spotted by Ron and Jan Tutheridge flying over Goring Gap.

A Cuckoo was also seen and many people have reported hearing a Cuckoo in the second half of May, especially over the Rife and further west. Yesterday, also, Clive Hope saw 4 Bottlenose Dolphins following a trawler off Ferring beach and David Campbell saw 6. So keep looking! Peter Dale has reported a few Bee Orchids in the North Lagoon together with Early Marsh Orchids. In the ‘Yurt’ field up McIntyre’s Lane Graham Tuppen has found 18 Bee Orchids.

On the reservoir there are small numbers of Pyramidal Orchids amongst the dry grasses, back after being mown to death for several years. It is very dry on the reservoir but I don’t think it has been mown. Highdown Hill is looking very dry but there are lots of Skylarks and a few Yellowhammers. Although the vegetation is parched, there are extraordinary numbers of Yellow Rattle flowers and the purple Lesser Knapweeds (Hardheads) are coming into flower.

The meadow below Highdown Gardens is covered in an astonishing number of Ox-eye Daisies. There are also many Common Broomrapes, a curious parasitic plant that produces no chlorophyll. It has pale yellow/fawn flowers and stems and no leaves.

The only butterflies of note are many Small Heaths on Highdown and some bright-blue newly-emerged Common Blues. In woodland, Speckled Woods are flitting about. At Patching there are Grizzled Skippers and Dingy Skippers and a few bright red and black Cinnabar Moths.

Finally, on June 1^st on Cissbury, I saw a male Northern Wheatear, a very striking black and white bird. This is a very late record for a bird that may be making its way back to Greenland to breed.

Bee Orchid in a field near Highdown

Pyramidal Orchids on Highdown

Lesser Knapweed

Ox-eye Daisies in meadow below Highdown

Common Blue on Highdown

Speckled Wood at Patching

Wheatear on Cissbury

Good news! Salsify is flourishing again on Sea Lane. The flowers are purple/pink and the plant is tall with greyish, long, thin leaves. It belongs to the daisy family, the

Salsify

Compositae, and is closely related to Goatsbeard which has yellow flowers. Goatsbeard is also known as ‘Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon’ because the flowers usually only open in the morning. So, if you want to see the flowers, look towards the bottom of Sea Lane on a sunny morning.

Salsify also grows in my front garden in Clover Lane probably because I took photos and carried the seeds home.

Salsify on Sea Lane

The seeds form a conspicuous brown coloured ‘clock’. Salsify roots are edible and it is probable that its appearance in the countryside is as a result of escapes from garden vegetable plots.

Now that the weather is not so good, you could try these ideas from the comfort of your house:

If you are still feeding birds, open your windows and try taking photos of birds on your feeders. You can even try through the glass. Even better if you can get a picture of a bird in a tree.

If you have a nest box or you know where a robin or blackbird, say, has made a nest, try keeping a record of activities: taking in nesting materials, feeding young and fledglings. Keep a note of key dates and you can even record your findings on the website of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO): www.bto.org.

A walk up the Rife is a must in May. The white Cow Parsley is in full bloom all along the banks and the Yellow Flags (Yellow Iris) are just coming out. Soon, the Early Marsh Orchids will be in bloom.

Two birds to look out for on the Rife which like the reeds. Reed Buntings sing from the tops of reeds or from bushes. Their song is a dull few notes but they are a lovely bird. Reed Warblers sing from lower down in the reeds and have an interesting chatty, jittery song which seems to go round in circles. They make their nests in the reeds whereas Reed Buntings usually nest in scrubby vegetation nearby.

If you are lucky enough to be near woodland or can walk along hedgerows, April is the perfect time to identify woodland flowers. Most flower early before they are shaded by the tree canopy above. The following is a list of 20 found in Patching Woods. See how many you can find, some may even be in your garden:-

Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa) white/pink flowers

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) pale yellow flowers, large crinkly leaves

Bluebell (Endymion non-scriptus) blue, with cream anthers, long thin leaves

Dog’s Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) tiny, inconspicuous flowers

Violet (Viola species) blue/purple flowers, heart-shaped leaves

White Dead-nettle (Lamium album) white flowers, nettle-like leaves

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) white flowers, other name Jack-by-the-Hedge

Ladies Smock (Cardamine pratensis) pale pink flowers, other name Cuckoo Flower

Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) white flowers, quite tall

Red Campion (Silene dioica) red flowers, tall

Lords-and-Ladies (Arum maculatum) purple or yellow spadix with green spathe (hood)

Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) white flowers, strong-smelling, edible

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea) violet/blue flowers, leaves kidney-shaped

Red Dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum) pink/purple flowers, square stems

Wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides) tall, tiny flowers in yellow/green, cup-like  bracts

Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) white flowers, trefoil leaves, in ancient woods

Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) glossy yellow flowers, heart-shaped leaves

Goldilocks Buttercup  (Ranunculus auricomus) small yellow variable petals, divided leaves

Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula) purple flowers in spike, black spots on leaves

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) very tall with purple flowers, large soft leaves

To help you identify the flowers, you can take photos on your phone or camera and then use the internet or an identification book to help you.  I can recommend The Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland by Blamey, Fitter and Fitter, second edition, 2013. Please do not pick the flowers. If you make your own list in a note book, record when and where you find the flowers and then you will build up a useful plant list.

A collage of 12 of these woodland flowers may help your identification.

The warm weather is beginning to bring out the butterflies. Look out for the following in your garden or on your daily walk. These are common April butterflies:

Peacock, often a pair doing a dance, spiralling into the air.

Small Tortoiseshell, often sunning itself on the ground.

Orange Tip, small, the female has grey rather than orange tips.

Small White, the first of the ‘cabbage whites’ to emerge.

Green-veined White, like Small White but underside has grey/green veins.

Brimstone, yellow, distinctive shape, female very pale yellow.

These 6 butterflies are shown on the collage to help you. See if you can tick off all 6 by the end of the month. Have you started your plant list yet? Now you can make a list of butterflies as well! Let me know if you record all six. There are other species as well which you may see. You could try and photograph them if they settle.

Look out for other insects in your garden. Have you seen a Bee Fly? They are very common this year.

Being confined to Ferring, this is the perfect opportunity to get to know your local wild flowers. Your challenge is to go and identify the 10 flowers I have listed below. Many are what you may call weeds but some can look lovely in a wild place in your garden. I have suggested where you may find them:

Little Paddocks Ground Ivy, blue flowers, Lungwort, pink/purple flowers, Borage, blue flowers, lots on wild flower bed, Little Twitten White Dead-nettle, white flowers, everywhere

Red Dead-nettle, in your garden?

Violets, blue, Highdown in chalk pit, Little Paddocks

Cowslips, yellow, in meadow below Highdown Gardens

Ivy-leaved Toadflax, purple, on walls

Shepherd’s Purse, tiny white flowers, in your garden?

Groundsel, tiny yellow flowers, in your garden?

My suggestion is that you make a list of these plants in a note book. See if you can find each one, then make columns for the date, where found and notes on identity. You can then build up your own plant list. Let me know if you do this!

The pictures are to help you but I have not named them!

This weekend it will get warmer and the winds are coming round to the south so look out for migrant birds arriving. There may be more butterflies too. Another list?

If you have a nest box or any nest in your garden, this might be a good time to keep a regular watch and record dates of bringing in nesting materials, food, and removal of faecal sacs and later fledgling. When baby birds are being fed it is amazing to see how frequently the adults come to the nest. You can count how many times in say 10 minutes. If you know where the nest boxes are around the village you could also record activity there.
Keep an eye on the sky. There are many reports of buzzards (over the Rife, from David Bettiss) and kites and a pair of buzzard are probably breeding again on the west side of the East Preston/Ferring gap.
Bird song is brilliant at the moment. Check you can identify the song of robin and blackbird. You can see them singing to confirm identity. Try to learn one song at a time. Small migrants are starting to arrive: listen out for the first of the warblers, the chiffchaff. This is the easiest song to identify because all they do is go ‘chiff’ and ‘chaff’, like a pendulum. Don’t confuse with a great tit which goes ‘teach-er, teach-er”.
Graham has reported butterflies in his garden: a comma, peacock and brimstone   Brimstones are pale yellow, males brighter than females. I have seen small tortoiseshell and red admiral. Any records of small tortoiseshell would be useful.
Graham Tuppen has evidence of hedgehogs in his garden and he says that bluebells are just beginning to come out in Clapham Woods together with the lovely wood anemones.
Being somewhat confined, might be a good time to start doing some daily records of observations in your garden. You might be surprised at what turns up! A note book and identification books are all you need whilst sitting in the sun.