At their end of February meeting at the Village Hall, members of Ferring Conservation Group were entertained by guest presenter, Graeme Lyons, who is the Senior Ecologist at the Sussex Wildlife Trust. He was intending to talk about the Invertebrates of the SWT Reserves, but a late change of plan led to him presenting his Top 100 Wildlife Highlights in Sussex, which happened to consist of around 80% invertebrates.

Graham who also happens to be the County Recorder of Spiders, as well as in his own words – “Bugs”, counted down his highlights from number 100 to number 1 all in the space of an hour. This was packed with useful information, and included among others beetles, spiders, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, fungi, fish and birds, and all of these had been seen in the County.

He illustrated his talk with some excellent close up photos, and some other distant shots which by his own admission were taken on the spur of the moment, including a quail that was just disappearing out of shot! The names of various species were just as entertaining – the Wart Biter cricket, the Strawberry spider (which looks just like one), the Purse-Web spider (our only Tarantula) and even the interestingly named Bastard-Toadflax Shieldbug.

The top three of his 100 were at number 3 – the Portuguese Man 0’War jellyfish seen on the beach at Portslade, number 2 – the Crimson Speckled moth, and finally at number 1 – Calosoma Sycophanta, an incredibly rare flying beetle seen by him in a field near Bishopstone in East Sussex, which was the first recorded sighting in Sussex since the 18th Century.

To conclude the meeting, Tricia Hall presented her Nature Notes, which included the first sightings of the year of frog spawn, and Ed Miller updated members on planning matters, which included the welcome news that the appeal against Arun District Council’s refusal of the plan for 23 Yurts and associated buildings on the southern slopes of Highdown had rightly in our opinion been turned down.

Glyn Jones gave a talk to Ferring Conservation Group [on 26 January] on the work of the South Downs Society, trying to protect the Downs from development while opening them up for recreation and quiet enjoyment of the landscape and other heritage assets. The Group was founded in 1923, as the Society of Sussex Downsmen, and its major achievement was its successful lobbying for the creation of the National Park, long promised but only implemented in 2002. Since then, he said, the Society had tried to be a ‘critical friend’ of the South Downs National Park Authority, offering advice and public engagement, and campaigning for the defence of the Downs in a way that the SDNP could not do, as a government body.

Glyn, a retired National Trust Ranger, clearly knew the Downs from Winchester to Eastbourne like the back of his hand, and illustrated his talk with many images – familiar and unfamiliar – of the chalk hills, beautiful villages, ancient hill-forts, modern farming, wildlife and people enjoying the landscape in many different ways. He pointed out that the National Park included valuable heathland, such as around Midhurst, where the plants and animals were quite different from those of the Downs themselves. Lizards and even adders could still be seen there, although the adder population was declining.

He ended his talk with a survey of the continuing threats to the Downs, even with their National Park status – fracking wells had been banned in the Park but not necessarily horizontal drilling from outside; major road schemes, like the A27 at Arundel; and on-shore wind farms. By contrast, the developers of the Rampion off-shore wind farm had worked very closely with all concerned to minimise the intrusion of the turbines and restore the landscape temporarily marred by the on-shore cabling.

After a break for tea Graham Tuppen delivered the popular Nature Notes slot and began by informing us that some welcome signs of spring with Snowdrops, Crocuses and Daffodils were all evident in sheltered places and also Hazel catkins had appeared on trees in Sea Lane. Thrushes and Robins had begun singing and Tricia Hall had reported spotting a Water rail in her garden, with a further six seen on the Rife along with a solitary Brent Goose. It had been reported that Foxes had been enjoying the winter sunshine by laying on garden shed roofs and Wood mice had been viewed feasting at bird feeders.

Ed Miller concluded the January meeting with news that ASDA had submitted a planning application for a Petrol Station and Jet Wash on the North East corner of their Ferring store. Ed advised us that the decision on the four detached houses proposed at 32/34 Sea Lane had been delayed, while the proposed additional apartment at Southpoint on the old Beehive Cottage site had still to be decided. The 23 Yurts proposed at the foot of Highdown are still awaiting a decision on appeal, and the four bungalows proposed at 44, Ferringham Lane were awaiting a decision by Arun DC in March of this year.

At our last meeting of the year we welcomed Anne Weinhold who educated us regarding a two-year Heritage Lottery funded project entitled ‘The Last Fisherman Standing’. This inspiring project is run by social enterprise ‘We are FoodPioneers CIC’ and aims to protect and celebrate the heritage of our oldest maritime trade in Worthing. Under this umbrella many community events are available including courses, talks, exhibitions and the opportunity to get involved with pop up fish markets, museum workshops and cookery events.

Since the 16th century fishermen have been fishing off the beach at Worthing and during the 19th century the industry expanded with the help of improved roads with fish being sent to nearby towns. In 1849 twenty five boats were operating along this stretch of the coast and in 1887 around ninety three men and seventeen boys were recorded working in the fishing industry.

However, during the latter years of the 20th century, fewer and fewer boats were seen going out to sea from Worthing and the fishing fleet quietly began to disappear. The fishermen that remain now fish from harbours such as Shoreham utilising larger boats and therefore are able to increase their catch albeit in accordance with official quotas.

This Project strives to protect the heritage of our fishing families in Worthing by recording and reviving the fishermen’s tales and sharing their vast knowledge of the sea on our doorstep and celebrate their contribution to the town. A former fisherman, Norman Bashford, a member of the oldest fishing family in Worthing and now in his 80’s, has been so inspired by the Project that his daughter and her partner have now started fishing off of Worthing beach in their own boat. To find out more about this project please visit: www.lastfishermanstanding.org.uk

After tea and mince pies we were interested to hear from Tricia Hall, during her Nature Notes presentation, that Meadowsweet is still in bloom along the banks of the Rife and Cosmos is in flower and attracting bees in Tricia’s garden. Graham Tuppen and Tricia have jointly visited and cleaned out the nest boxes sited around the village. They reported that there was evidence that all except one had been used during this or last year’s nesting season.

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with the news that a planning application had at last been submitted to Arun DC for the renovation of one existing property and the building of four properties at 32 and 34 Sea Lane, Ferring. The closing date for comments for this application is 21st December 2017. Ed also commented that the Arun DC Local Plan was still with the Planning Inspectorate.

We welcomed David Johnston to open our October Meeting. With an audience of over 70 members and visitors David enchanted us with his fascinating collection of photographs from his delightful book entitled ‘A Sussex Wayfarer’s Nature Notes’. This collection of photographs commenced from 1987 when David and his wife Sue would walk in the Sussex countryside and David would note everything they came across, including old farm buildings and machinery, animals, birds and flowers. This very soon built into an impressive archive of over 6,000 35mm slides and photographs – and these are now in possession of the West Sussex Records Office.

David would always make a point of entering into conversation with country folk he encountered along the way and these chats were recorded and made into a collection of country diaries that added yet another dimension to his observations. Many photographs were taken during 1987 both before and after the great storm of that year with David highlighting the contrast of these ‘before and after’ scenes as evidence of the sheer devastation this storm caused.

Tricia Hall delivered her Nature Notes by informing us that both she and Peter Dale had completed a count of the many trees that were planted along the banks of the Rife in 2011. Out of a total of 1,000 trees it was estimated that almost 50 per cent had survived. Kathryn Stillman had photographed 24 Little Egrets on a tree along the west bank of the Rife and a Kingfisher had been spotted at the southern end. Also in the area, a fairly common but very secretive Water Rail had been seen, a Stone Chat, Snipe, a Grey Wagtail and Ring Plover had been sighted on the ploughed area of the Goring Gap. Tricia commented that few butterflies had been seen in late summer especially the Small Tortoiseshell, although they were abundant in the spring. Unusually the honeysuckle along the Rife was experiencing a second flowering.

Ed Miller brought us up to speed with planning news by advising us that planning permission for a ninth residence at the former Beehive Cottage site had been refused. Also WSCC Highways were soon to take action on the road layout to make it safer for vehicles entering Sea Lane from the southern exit of Sea Lane Gardens.

At our September meeting James Sainsbury came along to give us an illustrated talk regarding the History of Cissbury Ring. James, an archaeologist from Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, began by explaining that Cissbury Ring, just north of Worthing, is the largest historic hill fort in Sussex dating back over 5,000 years. From the top views stretch from Brighton to the Isle of Wight.

A wonderful habitat for butterflies and flowers has been created here by centuries of continuous grazing. During the Neolithic period settlements were established and an extensive flint mining operation was carved out on the southern side of the hill and this is still evident today. In the early Bronze Age there is evidence of a ritual burial ground as two round barrows have been identified here.

Around 400BC the Iron Age Hill Fort was built and stood firm as a means of defence for the next 300 years, it encloses 26 hectares and originally had only two entrances, one at the eastern end and the other at the south-western end. After 100BC the interior of the fort was used for agriculture with rectangular fields being marked out with earthwork banks and terraces.There is also archaeological evidence of a settlement during the later Roman period where ramparts were heightened, possibly in fear of an attack by Danish hoards.

Although Cissbury Ring was recognised as having defensive qualities since these times no actual military activity took place until the Second World War. A large anti-tank ditch was excavated around the entire hill in 1940, and anti-aircraft guns were positioned across the highest part of the ridge within the hill fort. James demonstrated the military activity by showing us a photograph of scorch marks made by tank practice, left on the grassland.

Thankfully today Cissbury Ring is a peaceful place and ideal for walking and appreciating the countryside.

After a break for tea Tricia Hall delivered her popular Nature Notes by advising us that around 100 meadow pipits were seen on the Goring Gap and around 1,000 starlings on an electricity pylon. Tricia reported that the plastic collected during the September Beach Clean had been recorded and the results submitted to the Marine Conservation Society’s annual survey. Unusually two storks had been spotted firstly on the roof of ASDA and later on the Goring Gap, they have now moved further along the coast towards Pagham. At least one of the storks is from the Knepp Castle Estate and there is a program to reintroduce them nationally.

To conclude the meeting Ed Miller updated us with news that the planning application for a ninth residence at the former beehive cottage site is awaiting a decision by Arun DC. The four chalet bungalows proposed at 44, Ferringham Lane have issues with access yet to be resolved. The Arun Local Plan for the building of 1,000 homes per year over the next 15 years is currently with the Inspector awaiting approval.

At our July meeting, and due to popular demand, we welcomed back David Plummer, an expert international wildlife photographer. David continued to share with us his fascinating accounts of photographing animals and birds in their natural environment. David explained that many of his photographs are the result of many hours and sometimes days of patience, often in uncomfortable situations. Also the photographs that appear to be endearing are frequently quite the opposite. As an example David showed us a photograph of two lion cubs that looked as if they were snuggled up together but in reality they were licking the blood from each other after sharing a kill.

David spends around six months of the year travelling worldwide acting as a guide to novice wildlife photographers, and conducting bespoke private tours in India, the Galapagos Islands, Kenya, including the Maasai Mara and Rwanda to film target species with particular expertise in the Pantanal region of Brazil and Hungary. These trips spare no expense in securing the very best wildlife experience and time is spent studying and understanding the animals to obtain the best possible shots.

When David is not travelling he works at the Sussex Wildlife Trust, Knepp Castle Estate and the BN5 Owl Project, a community based project in Small Dole near Henfield. He also runs non-photographic wildlife safaris and guided birding on the North Kent and Welsh coasts.

It was not until recently that David chose to disclose the fact that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2009, aged 40 years old. This event has not deterred David but instead spurred him on to make the very best of life and he has achieved some of his greatest work since his diagnosis.

Following a break for tea and biscuits Tricia Hall delivered her Nature Notes and advised us that fringed lilies were evident on the Rife and that the ‘Big Butterfly Count’ would take place between Friday 14th July and Sunday 6th August. This is a nationwide survey aimed at helping to assess the health of our environment. It was launched in 2010 and is now the world’s largest survey of butterflies. In 2016 over 36,000 people took part counting almost 400,000 individual butterflies and day-flying moths across the UK. Tricia gave us a list of butterflies that we may spot in our area of West Sussex; meadow brown, gate keeper, common blue, holy blue, comma, speckled wood, small tortoiseshell, peacock, red admiral, brimstone, painted lady, clouded yellow, green-veined white, small white and large white. To take part in this count and for further information visit: www.bigbutterflycount.org

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with news that there were no new planning applications for Ferring and that the revised parking space plan for Sea Drive Flats was to be decided by Arun DC later this month. Ed also advised us that over 700 houses were planned to be built either side of Water Lane in Angmering.

The Group heard from Yvonne Fenter, who is one of the charity’s volunteer speakers, but is also a trustee and wife of the founder of the hospital. It had been set up originally in the village of Eartham, but moved to its current site in 1985 where it continues to this day. There is work going on currently to improve the facilities, which are so well used for wildlife in need, and in fact our local WADARS organisation transports many rescued birds and animals there if necessary for their treatment and recuperation.

The hospital treats some 3000 patients a year, of which approximately 2500 are birds of all species. Many of these are of course baby birds, which have to be fed constantly, and staff make use of liquidised dog and cat food fed on the end of a paint brush for this purpose. It should be noted that members of the Group on the night stepped up to the mark and answered the hospital’s request to bring along meat based dog and cat food with them as a donation. Scores of cans and packets were passed on for their use, as well as some generous cash donations. All of these were gratefully received by Yvonne.

The principle of the hospital is that if any animal or bird is in need, then they will treat it. To complete the talk, Yvonne gave members useful advice on what to do if they found an animal requiring help, and she outlined the particular problem of discarded fishing hooks and line which can easily be ingested by sea birds. Continuing the sea theme, she told the Group that oiled birds were not the problem they used to be with the practice of ships illegally flushing out their tanks in the channel having virtually stopped.

We are very lucky to have such a facility near to us in the county, and it deserves our support. They do have their own charity shop in the Guildbourne Centre in Worthing, where they will happily receive items to sell, as well as items such as towels, newspapers etc to use in the care of their patients.

Jacob Everitt opened our May meeting with a talk on his search for as many different species of dragonfly that he could identify during 2015. Jacob is a Senior Countryside Warden at Horsham District Council and began by describing to us the difference between dragonflies and damselflies. Dragonflies have joined eyes with no split segment and two pairs of flat wings whereas damselflies have large eyes either side of their head split into coloured segments and much thinner wings that are held against their body.

There are 41 species that are native to Britain and they can be found from Land’s End to John O’Groats, but not in Ireland. Jacob said that 29 of the species can be found here in Sussex.

With a list of Britain’s Dragonflies, an AA Road Atlas, a book entitled ‘Watching British Dragonflies’ and a camera, Jacob began his voyage of discovery. His first visit was to Dungeness in Kent where the many coastal lagoons were an ideal location and here he spotted a Hairy Dragonfly, this large, hardy dragonfly is blue, green and yellow and Jacob found it easy to photograph as this species is happy to sit for periods of time. A Vagrant Emperor was also seen passing through the area, these dragonflies tuck their legs in during flight and use them to catch insects to eat.

Jacob’s hunt continued in the Ashdown Forest where he discovered a Small Red damselfly, a Black Darter dragonfly and the largest of the species at five inches long, the Golden-Ringed dragonfly which is found on heathland.

In late May Jacob visited Norfolk and was fortunate enough to see and photograph a Norfolk Hawker. This is one of two brown Hawker dragonflies found in Britain.

A return journey time of 18 hours and 1036 miles took Jacob to Abernethy Forest in Scotland on a hunt for three target species, the Northern and the Northern Emerald damselflies and the Azure Hawker dragonfly found around boggy pools in moorland.

With over 5,000 miles on the clock and 290 hours driving, including visits to Loch Maree Scotland, the Isle of Sheppey, the New Forest, Hadleigh Castle in Essex and the Isles of Scilly Jacob spotted 45 species of Odonata (the collective name for dragonflies and damselflies) including all of the 41 species native to Britain.

After a break for refreshments Tricia Hall delivered her popular Nature Notes with news of a Great Spotted Woodpecker nesting in a hole in the same tree as last year in the Plantation. Blue tits are very busy in some of the nesting boxes in the village and five fox cubs were seen playing in Clover Lane. Early marsh Orchids are alongside the Rife along with Comfrey, which has medicinal qualities and can be cut, rotted down and used as fertilizer and is also a good food source for Bumble Bees. Ed Miller concluded the meeting by advising us that the draft version of the Arun Local Plan has been modified to reflect the increase of the new housing quota to 1,000 properties per year for the next 15 years. So far this draft plan protects the Goring Gaps.

At our April meeting we welcomed Tim McPherson, a Director of the Angling Trust, publisher, angler, naturalist, ornithologist and conservationist. Tim came to talk to us about the work of the Angling Trust, and explained that the biggest threat to sea-angling is the lack of fish brought about by decades of over-fishing and failed management by the UK government and the EU, through the Common Fisheries Policy. The Angling Trust’s ultimate goal is to allow recreational sea fishing to have a greater say in how fish stocks are managed through lobbying and campaigning, and to allow the promotion and development of this sport for future generations.

The Angling Trust members support the campaigns they carry out to protect fish stocks and together with Fish Legal, the legal arm of the Angling Trust, they use the law to fight pollution and other damage to the water environment – both freshwater and marine – and protect the rights of anglers and angling. The Angling Trust are continually campaigning against poaching, the quality of waters, inshore netting, reform of rod licences and other important issues.

Tim also told us about a popular recreational fishing area called the Kingmere Marine Conservation Zone, this lies between 5 to 10 km offshore of the West Sussex coast between Littlehampton and Worthing and has the ideal topography to attract marine life. This area is one of the largest breeding sites of black bream in the country and is popular with chartered fishing boats. These fish build their nests on hard bedrock overlain with thin sand and gravel. The male fish will make a nest in the substrate and when the female has laid her eggs he will guard the nest until the eggs hatch. Black bream are ‘protogynous’ which means the females turn into males when they reach about 35 cms. Further Marine Conservation Zones will be considered in future.

A short AGM followed a break for refreshments where Ed Miller was appointed as Secretary to replace Debbie Dilks, and Graham Tuppen voted onto the Committee. Other existing committee members were re-elected unopposed.

David Bettiss delivered April’s Nature Notes with news that many migrant birds had been seen around the area including wheatears, male redstart, black cap, chiff chaff, whitethroats, swallows, and great crested grebe. Butterflies seemed more plentiful than last year with peacock, small tortoiseshell, brimstone, speckle wood and an orange tip being spotted in gardens.

Ed Miller concluded the meeting and although there were no new planning applications, there is great concern that the proposed new housing estates in Angmering will cause an additional burden on the already congested local highways.

Penny Green, an Ecologist from the Knepp Estate near Horsham, opened our March meeting with a talk entitled ‘Knepp Wildland – A Naturalistic Grazing System’. Penny explained that the Knepp Castle Estate has been privately owned by the Burrell family for over 200 years. The current owner, Sir Charles Burrell, was devoted to traditional arable and dairy farming but with heavy clay soil and small fields the land was not ideally suited for intensive agriculture. In 2001 Sir Charles shifted his focus to regeneration and restoration projects aimed at nature conservation. Sir Charles introduced various herbivores, cows, deer, horses and pigs on to the 3,500 acres of land. Over time this affected the vegetation to create mosaics of habitats including open grassland, regenerating scrub, bare ground and forested groves. Longhorn cattle create paths through scrub, spread seeds and create a distinct browse line, while the Tamworth Pigs rootle up the ground looking for food. Exmoor ponies and deer browse the sallow and other tree species also stripping bark especially when food is scarce in winter. The animals live outside all year without supplementary feeding and are allowed to roam freely with little intervention. The aim is to improve the biodiversity of the land by encouraging the return of wild flowers and grasses, trees and shrubs, insects and butterflies, birds and small mammals. It is hoped that eventually the ecosystem that once prevailed in the area will return and although grazing animals are used elsewhere in the UK as a conservation management tool it is unusual for a mixture of animals to be used in this way. This project may well encourage other areas of marginal land in the UK to become ‘rewilded’ linking up diversity hotspots to create a ‘Living Landscape’.

Following a break for refreshments Julie Toben from Wadars provided an update on the future of this respected animal charity. Julie explained that although their initial plans for a ‘state of the art’ rehoming centre were still in the running, realistically this would take the charity much longer to achieve than first thought. Therefore after much consideration, and to utilize the existing facilities as soon as possible, a more practical plan had been agreed. Some of the existing stable blocks are to be renovated and converted to kennels while a prefabricated UPVC cattery would be constructed with sympathetic planting and fencing to help the buildings blend into the landscape. The charity hopes to be fully operational by March 2018.

Ed Miller followed with an update on planning news. Ed told us that the second planning application for 23 Yurts on the land north of the A259 had been refused. Globe Estates (Southern) Ltd have submitted plans, at detailed design stage, for 8 apartments on the site of the former Beehive Cottage. A new planning application for 8 apartments at the corner of Sea Lane and Sea Close is soon to be advertised, this time to include an underground car park. There is also an application for the former Village Interiors showroom in South Ferring to be converted to flats.

Michael Brown concluded the meeting with the latest news regarding the Rampion Windfarm. Michael advised us that the offshore foundations were now complete and there would be no further piling, and that E.on are now busy installing the turbines to the towers and to date have completed 4. They are on schedule to complete this part of the project by autumn of this year along with 50% of the cabling.