Welcome to the wildlife news pages of the Friends of Lancing Ring

Lancing Nature	Welcome to the Wildlife & News Page The Friends Of Lancing Ring 2002
Contact	\| index \| about Folr \| news \| Galleries \| The Dewpond \| Membership\|
Friends Of Lancing Ring	Here you will find News and Information about the Wildlife that has been sighted around the Reserve and other events arranged by the group
	\| News 2003 \| 2001 \| 2000 \| Add your observation \| More Nature Notes

December 2002

16.12.02
Ivy attacked
I went for a walk on the clump today ( see report below), something which gave cause for concern is that the Ivy seems to have been maliciously attacked again.
Several of the thick woody Ivy stems clambering up the trees have been freshly chopped at about 5ft from ground level.

It looks to have been cut with something like an axe. Coincidentally perhaps; but when a group of 'travellers' were camped in the car park, we came upon a young lad of about 10 or 12 with a razor sharp axe chopping at a branch of a Sycamore close to the camp. Naturally I politely told him what I thought of his actions.
If this was the perpetrator then the problem has gone away, but if not then someone unknown is waging a battle on the Ivy which is contrary to the policy of the Friends and the SDCB.
Ivy is not harmfull to healthy trees as the details on this linked site explain
http://www.treecraft.co.uk/ivy.htm

A quick visit to the 'clump' on a misty and cold December afternoon.
As usual at this time of the year the pathways are muddy, particularly where pedestrian traffic is forced through narrow tracks between shrubby scrub.
On the edge of the woodland near the Dewpond several common birds were prodding, poking and scraping around amongst the fallen leaves or working through lower branches. These were Blackbird, Blue tit, Great tit and a Robin.
I wandered around the eerily still and quiet Ash and Beech woods taking in the atmosphere of the denuded wintery trees festooned with glossy green Ivy (Hedera helix) and twining Old Man's Beard (Clematis vitalba).
Sites of fungi that I had recorded earlier were now deteriorating and wilting away. Their fruiting bodies becoming re-absorbed into the woodland soil below the leaf litter.
On the way out past the Dewpond, a flash of yellow and green tail feathers caught my eye. As the large Jackdaw sized bird flew towards the Pond I could make out it's appearance as a Green Woodpecker. Two species of Woodpecker, Green (Picus viridis) and Spotted (Dendrocopus sp.), are known on the clump
but not frequently seen.

The Consultation draft of the 5 Year Management Plan has been published and issued to the Friends of Lancing Ring Committee.
The plan begins with a description of the site. Its present status, Geology, History, Landscape, Habitats, Recreation and Public Access, Current Management, Interpretation and Information & Resources.
It then lists the Management objectives.
The next section begins a Management discussion where the aspects listed above are examined and assessed for the management objectives.
Finally the Action Plan as a table of prioritised maintenance projects. The documents also include maps illustrating the listed aspects.
The members of the friends of Lancing Ring have been asked to contribute comments and any proposed amendments or additions.
If you are a member I can arrange viewing of the document. If you are not a member and would like to join please contact me.

November 2002

On Lancing clump today, Saturday 23rd November I was very dismayed to see that the short grass area adjacent to the Dewpond has been badly churned up by one or more motor vehicles, apparently trail bikes or quad bikes. I actually went looking for signs of fungi and to the south of the beech woods there were a small quantity of Agaricus specimens that I had not seen on previous visits. They were white and bulbous on emergence, opening to a lightly peppered flat top about 10 cm across. Gills were a warm
pinkish shade. More pictures are on the november gallery page

Membership
The group is appealing to anybody who is keen to do some practical conservation work and lives in or close to the Adur area.
Maintenance of the reserve relies heavily on volunteers who come out once a month and help keep pathways open from encroachment by brambles and shrub seedlings.
If you are fit and keen to help please get in touch with me or the membership secretary.

The Autumn fund raising bring-and-buy at the Monks Farm Parish Hall, drew a steady trickle of visitors.
Profits were boosted with the aid of Katherine Hamblett whose own collection unwanted of toys, books and games attracted the attention of all the visitors. Items were priced from 5p to 50p. Bring and Buy at Parish Hall

**September 2002**
	A tour round the reserve from the main Mill Road car park , through the butterfly meadow, up through the woods, past the Dew pond and down to the Chalk pit. In the meadow, Meadow Brown, Common Blue and Red Admiral butterflies took advantage of late nectar plants. Ripening Blackberries festoon the clumps of Hawthorn bushes. The edges of the Woodland where the Brambles thicken and twine into Ivy and Hawthorn were the haunt of occasional Speckled Woods The Woodland was fairly quiet as I walked northwards. I noted how lush the undergrowth was, undoubtedly due to the wet summer we have had. Not many fungi were in evidence in the areas where fallen timber has been left to rot, but it is very early in the fungi season. Turning past the Dewpond where the reeds have spread to fill nearly two thirds of the pond perimeter area. The route to the Chalk pit is via the ancient neolithic trackway. Entering the chalk pit via the stile I focus on the grasses for anything of interest, I soon come upon the familiar stripes of a Wasp spider, one that I have been finding regularly recently. Argiope bruennichi is an Orb Spider, about twice the size of an adult common Diadem garden spider. Within a few feet I discovered a further six Wasp Spiders, about half of them were female, the smaller males were suspended close by. In long grass I caught a fleeting sight of a Common Lizard and a little later another one presented me with a longer viewing but scurried away when I tried to raise my camera.

July 2002

Butterfly Walk
On a hot (25° C) and muggy (humidity 86%) day, the walk produced an exceptional variety of Butterflies. In order of prevalence these were:

Small Skipper Meadow Brown Gatekeeper Marbled White Holly Blue Common Blue Red Admiral	Large White Small White Wall Brown Speckled Wood Peacock Small Copper Chalk hill Blue
Lancing Butterflies

The last two were varieties in the meadows. Both could have been overlooked by a single naturalist. Small red mites were present on some of the Meadow Browns.
6-Spot Burnet Moths was also common in the meadows.

Adur Butterflies
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Butterflies.htm

Andy Horton

Sunday 21st
The Friends task force met on the Ring for a morning of Ragwort clearance.
The Ragwort is poisonous to all livestock but equines and bovines are most susceptible.
http://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/campaigns/ragwortb.htm
There are no grazing animals on the Ring at present although the South Downs Conservation board would like to see Exmoor Ponies introduced.
Dried hay containing Ragwort cannot be given to Horses as it remains toxic when dry.

An evening walk through McIntyres field and on to the chalk-pit.
The sound of a million Grasshoppers, not a single Cricket.
Small Skipper, Meadow Brown, Marbled White.
Warm sun in soft evening light, gives lift to the butterflies flight
Small Scabious and Black Knapweed,,
Pride of Sussex - the Round-headed Rampion.
Pyramid Orchid on a chalky slope
A female Stag Beetle, But no male companion.
She seemed exposed in the walkers route,
so I carefully moved her to where she was safe from any boot. - Ray Hamblett

Forthcoming Event- Butterfly Walk
On Saturday 27th July at 10:00 am a Butterfly walk will be led by expert Brianne Reeve of the national Butterfly-Conservation group. If you wish to come along, meet at the Mill Road car park.

At the beginning of the month the Friends were asked by the 2nd Lancing Brownie group to lead a walk through the reserve. Chairman Joe and Vice Chairman Veronica took up the challenge. Joe's specialist knowledge is archaeology and he was able to describe the ancient history attached to the Ring and Veronica's nature expertise covered the botanical interest.
An amusing moment came when Joe described the Chalk rock as "shrimp poo" !
The outing was a great success and girls sent these cards to show their appreciation.

11 July 2002
A fine day after a over a week of rain and overcast days brought a few butterflies out, included a handful of Marbled Whites, at least one Small Skipper, but the Meadow Browns the most plentiful (25+) in the meadows.
On the dewpond, the dragonfly would not settle. It has been identified before as a Broad-bodied Chaser, but it would not stay still enough for me to be sure. It was darting around at great speed. I fancied it had a a lot of black on its thorax as well as black on the tip of its abdomen but I could not be sure. This would mean it could have been a Scarce Chaser. A grey coloured Emperor Dragonfly hawked at low level over McIntyres Field (TQ 188 061).
European Dragonflies Picture Gallery
http://www.student.io.tudelft.nl/io335601/picmenu.html
In the dewpond scores of front swimming Water Boatman could be seen in the shallows rising frequently to the surface, with the usual Pond Skaters on the surface. In the wooded fringes, I noticed a colourful multi-spotted yellow (14-Spot?) Ladybird, Calvia 14-guttata? on a leaf of a tree.
Flowers noticeable were Pyramid Orchid and Lesser Agrimony, and small Puff
Ball Mushrooms stood out from the crowd in the meadows.

Cheers

Andy Horton.

**April 2002**
	Saturday 6th April 2002 Coffee Morning and AGM The Coffee Morning commenced at 10am and was followed by a short AGM at about 11:30am The event was well attended and sales of the Tea and Coffee were brisk The fund raising Bric-a-brac and book sale was popular and the computer aided presentation of photographs taken during 2000/2001 by Ray Hamblett was greeted with interest. Particularly by a number of the Friends attending the morning who are unable to reach the Lancing Ring reserve due to their age, but are happy to contribute the annual membership to support the work of the more active members. The location for the event is the Holy Family Hall North Road, Lancing. This hall is at the side entrance to 'The Presbytery' adjacent to to the Church of the Holy Family. The Presbytery is the former Monks Manor house and later became Monks Farm. 3rd April - butterflies On the east side of McIntyres field I saw at least two Peacocks, One pair were involved in some kind of airial ritual. A male Brimstone fluttered past, there may have been two. I also saw a pair of Comma x2, they all patrolled up and down the sun drenched edge of field where it meets the wooded path. Near the edge of the farmland by the Old Track a Speckled Wood flickered past me and disappeared into the shady woodland Wednesday 13th February Volunteers with the South Downs Conservation Board, led by Countryside Ranger Richard James, gathered for a scrub clearing session on the South-west slope of Lancing Ring. The task was to remove some of the Hawthorn which is seen to be invading the chalk grassland which itself has been colonized by the invasive Torgrass[ Brachypodium pinnatum] species. The SDCB hope to introduce grazing by Exmoor Ponies which have proved successful at Firle near Lewes, East Sussex in controlling the grass as the article at this link site explains http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2001/011122a.htm The problem is also well explained on this site http://www.sussex.ac.uk/press_office/bulletin/20jun97/item5.html There are problems with the introduction of grazing animals but there is a need to protect the future of the rare chalk grassland. ActionPlan Link
	Top of Page
This page was modified in November 2005 ©Ray Hamblett 2000,2005	Views expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the group as whole