The Round Hill Society

Wildlife

Review of 2009 by Matthew Thomas, Brighton and Hove City Council's ecologist
Migrant birds

The year started with a smattering of interesting winter migrant records – it seems to have been a good winter for these, including Purple Sandpiper (amber list), Redwing (red list) and Shag (amber list). Brighton and Hove continues to be a great place to see migrant birds and Brighton Marina seems to be a particularly good ‘hotspot’. For more information on bird conservation status, see the RSPB’s web site.

Migrant butterflies
But 2009 wasn’t just interesting for migrant birds; migrant butterflies were also extremely active. Most notable, or course, was the deluge of Painted Lady. The first record was made on 18th May and soon there were remarkable anecdotes of bushes in our parks covered with butterflies as thousands arrived from continental Europe . I recall a similar ‘invasion’ in the early 1990’s, but not on the scale seen this year.

There were also a smattering of Small Tortoiseshell records through the spring – heartening as this species has suffered a noticeable decline in recent years (with no definite explanation). For more information see www.ukbutterflies.co.uk.

Swifts declining in numbers, but still common in Round Hill
The first Swift was recorded on 11th May this year – somewhat later than in previous years. Brighton and Hove used to be known for Swifts, with their characteristic ‘screaming parties’ a familiar experience on hot summer evenings.

As the economy of the city improved, buildings were renovated and opportunities for swifts to nest correspondingly dropped. Artificial swift nest boxes are becoming popular as part of new development schemes, although we don’t have much information yet on whether they are being used.

You can still see swifts almost anywhere in the city in high summer, particularly in the Roundhill area of Brighton it seems, but in nothing like the numbers they once were. I’d be particularly interested in any records of Swift nesting sites in 2010.

The importance of Elm Trees
2009 was another great year for White-letter Hairstreak butterfly, with over 50 records added to CityWildlife this year. White-letter Hairstreak is of course dependent on Elm and has therefore become a speciality of Brighton and Hove , with our National Elm Collection and some of the largest remaining English Elm trees in the country

See The Council's website for more information.


White-letter Hairstreak was seen right down into The Level this year, as well as at its usual haunts around Preston Park and along the London Road .

2009 also even outshone 2008 in its rare arable plant records. You may recall the brilliant red display of poppies in the field between Falmer and Woodingdean in June. Apparently this was caused by the field being left unsprayed, due to the stadium building works.

Beneath the showy poppy plants, interesting scarcities such as Venus’s-looking-glass (so named because its ripe seeds look like shiny mirrors – to the imaginative eye in any case!) appeared for the first time here for many years. Other rarities seen in 2009 included Yellow-juiced Poppy and Rough Poppy, but surely the plant find of the year has been a colony of Weasel’s Snout – a very rare arable annual, not recorded in Brighton & Hove since 1988.

The plant re-appeared at its previous location, on the allotments off Whitehawk Hill Road , almost certainly from long dormant seed, after soil disturbance. A big thank you to Tessa Pawsey for the record.

2010: International Year of Biodiversity

2010 has lots in store – it is the International Year of Biodiversity (the year when biodiversity loss was supposed to have been halted – ha ha!) and here in Brighton and Hove we are planning a whole host of activities to celebrate it, under the banner of ‘Big Nature’.

Look out for the promotions over the year – including a ‘Bio Blitz’ planned for Springwatch on 6th June, when everyone is invited to record as many different species as possible over a 24 hour period at Stanmer Park . Expert recorders from all over Sussex will be converging on the Park for the event, which promises to be very educational as well as great fun – hope you can make it. For more information see www.bigbiodiversitycount.org.uk.


I hope you have a really good Christmas and a happy new year.

Matthew Thomas

Ecologist, Brighton & Hove City Council

Cityparks
Stanmer Nursery, Stanmer Park
Lewes Road, Brighton
BN1 9SE

See www.citywildlife.org.uk for information on wildlife in Brighton and Hove

Review of 2008 by Matthew Thomas, Brighton and Hove City Council's ecologist

2008 started with a flush of interesting arable bird records, including Corn Bunting and Linnet which were once common across farmland on the Downs but since the 1970's have been declining nationally at an alarming rate.

Our first record for Swallow was 21st April (earliest reported in any year was 31st March) and for Swift, 3rd May (earliest reported 2nd May). Buzzard has been increasing its range across Sussex in recent years - CityWildlife now has 5 records for this species. There are also now 3 records for Hobby, another Raptor on the increase in the UK.

Other interesting bird records in 2008 include Firecrest, a bird which has just begun to establish itself along the south coast, and Kingfisher seen regularly at Brighton Marina!

2008 was also a good year for Orchid records - White Helleborine and Fly Orchid were both recorded for the first time in Brighton and Hove this year and Early Spider Orchid, a species specially protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, was recorded at a previously unknown location in the city.

Midsummer saw an interesting smattering of arable annual records - 'old favourites' such as Corn Chamomile, Corn Buttercup and Cornflower, all now very rare on the Downs (and throughout the UK). These would have been very exciting, but almost all were from a central reservation in Eastern Road, Kemp Town where CityParks had sowed a wild flower mix!


This produced a riot of colour in June and many compliments from local people - so we are planning to do more wild flower sowing in 2009.

Other highlights of the year include several White Letter Hairstreak records (a butterfly which breeds only on Elm trees), a vast number of moth
records with names like Nut-tree Tussock, Flame Shoulder, Buff Ermine and Ruby Tiger (I had never even heard of most of them before!) and strange little critters like Narcissus Bulb Fly, which looks similar to a bee but ruins Daffodil bulbs and the Bee Fly - a fly which does even better at
looking like a small bumble bee!

During the autumn a Red Deer was recorded on the Downs - perhaps a farm escape. But surely the biggest highlight of the year must be the discovery of Dormice by the Friends of Waterhall. It's the first time Dormouse has been officially recorded in the city for a very long time - if ever -
previously it was thought we were too isolated from the woods and shaws of the Weald (where the Dormouse has a national stronghold).


However, since the discovery, people have been 'coming out of the woods' from various parts of Brighton saying they have seen Dormice there for years, so clearly more survey work needs to be done!

Pru Gridley has to get a special mention again this year with by far the highest number of records - thank you Pru! And many thanks again for your interest in CityWildlife and for your records.

I am still working on a revamp of CityWildlife to make it simpler and easier to use - hopefully for a 'roll out' next year - so watch this space!

Have a really good Christmas - and don't forget you can start 2009 with a brisk walk in the countryside at various locations around Brighton and Hove with various Ranger-led walks on New Year's Day - see more information below - and don't forget to add your New Year sightings to CityWildlife!

Yours,

Matthew Thomas
Ecologist

For details of how to become a Nature Warden (open to all local residents interested in logging the city's wildlife), or to review the Council's www.citywildlife.org.uk site, please go to www.citywildlife.org.uk.


Round Hill is surprisingly rich in wildlife. Many of the old laundry drying grounds behind the houses in Richmond Road and Roundhill Crescent are a sheltered and rich wildlife environment.



Let Me Introduce You to Another Website... by Jan Curry
Trouble With My Waterworks - by Jan Curry
Flocking To The Neighbourhood - by Mike Unwin
Email Tales - report by Vivien Eliades
Fox Alert! - report by Vivien Eliades

Public consultation on Nature Conservation & Development
Brighton & Hove City Council has produced a revised draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) on Nature Conservation and Development. The public consultation on this proposed SPD finished on 25th March 2008.

An SPD is one of the material considerations that can be taken into account when determining a planning application. It forms a part of the council's new Local Development Framework (LDF).

The draft SPD and supporting documents are available to view and download from the council’s web site by clicking here.

This page was last updated by Ted on 24-Dec-2009