MILL HILL

WILDLIFE REPORTS 2012

Spring Downland Butterflies (May):
 
 

Grizzled Skipper	Adonis Blue Butterfly	Dingy Skipper	Small Heath Butterfly

Noticeable summer plants of the upper meadows include Greater Knapweed, Hardheads (=Lesser Knapweed), Field Scabious, Meadow Cranesbill, Alexanders, Pyramidal Orchids, Plantains, Melilots, Meadow Vetchling, Yarrow, Eyebrights, Musk Thistles, Hounds-tongue*, Perforate St. John's Wort*, Great Mullein* and many others. Herb Robert is found amongst the scrub.
(*notably on disturbed ground.)
Some Indicator Plants of Ancient Downland (Link)
Wild Flora and Fauna on Chalk   flickr
Adur Wild Flowers 2009

OVERVIEW: A large part (724 acres) of the downs including Mill Hill were presented to the people of Shoreham in 1937.  Just over 30 acres still remain as public open land and a Local Nature Reserve.  This is divided into about 11 acres of grassland and meadows above the ridge, about 9 acres of scrub, the copse and glades at the northern end, and about half of the prime Chalkhill Blue area of 6.4 acres of herbland remaining. 6 acres has been lost to a Sycamore woodland on the southern slopes.  This is low fertility chalkland not suitable for grazing. The top area is effectively a wild meadow and the lower slopes a rabbit warren dominated by prostrate (not the upright form) Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa.	MILL HILL HOMEPAGE LOWER SLOPES 2008 MILL NATURE RESERVE & MAP OVERVIEW CITATION Horseshoe Vetch
Chalkhill Blues: Mill Hill is nationally important because of its population of Chalkhill Blue Butterflies. Estimates of the numbers are notoriously inaccurate. In the 1950s the population was estimated by R. M. Craske to be 50,000. This may be an exceptionally good year. I would estimate the numbers at that time to be nearer 25,000 for Mill Hill only. After the cattle grazing and thorn incursions the numbers plummeted to the most reliable estimate in 1960 of 6,000. The new road and Sycamore woodland further denuded the Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, and bare chalk downland to a figure I have estimated at a top figure of 3,000 Chalkhill Blue Butterflies at the turn of the millennium (counted in 2003). Almost all these butterflies are now to be found on the six acres of the lower slopes. Graham Hart in the 1990s estimated the numbers at 6,000. This is not out of the question and this would accord with the R. M. Craske estimate of 50,000. This would be the maximum population density that could be expected on the carpets of Horseshoe Vetch (based on German figures). Protection of the current population requires man management of the scrub incursions, which means removal of the Privet.  Text by Andy Horton Calcareous Grassland Message
"Our family lived at The Mill House, Mill Hill, from around 1933 until about 1967, and every July we saw the "Butterfly Men" walking past onto the Downs. My father used to tell us that they were interested in the blue butterflies." Heather Clark (née Eager), Ryde, Isle of Wight	Nearest Postcode:  BN43 5FH Grid Ref:  TQ 210 074  (upper car park) Geographic Link      OS Map Google Earth Map Magic Map of Mill Hill NR Local Nature Reserve Designation Natural England: Local Nature Reserves Multi-Map (Bird's Eye View)

FEATURE:
 

2003

Threats to the Butterfly Downland site at Mill Hill The butterfly lower slopes at Mill Hill are under serious threat by a natural process known as ecological succession where the woody shrubs like Privet, Brambles and Hawthorn invade the herb-rich slopes gradually turning the downs into woodland and eliminating the butterfly larval food plants especially the Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, on which the Chalkhill Blue Butterflies rely. The remedy is by expert professional removal of the Privet on a regular basis. This job is now being undertaken by volunteers.

2009

WILDLIFE REPORTS

OS Map

More photographs can be found on Mill Hill at facebook
Supplementary Images Blog

20 May 2012
Again, too cool (14.2 °C) for butterflies and too breezy (Force 4 from the north) to photograph flowers close-up, overcast without any sun, the rain of the past few days had nevertheless stopped. Nevertheless, I made an afternoon trip to Mill Hill to check out the extent of the Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, which was not so extensive in previous years and nearly at its peak. Despite the cool conditions I did note a Holly Blue and a Red Admiral at the top of Chanctonbury Drive (SE of Mill Hill). On the lower slopes of Mill Hill, there were no sign of butterflies at first and eventually the first of 23+ Adonis Blues appeared and this included a fresh female, the first seen this year. Other butterflies seen on the lower slopes were a few Small Heath and just the one Dingy Skipper. The first Lesser Hawkbits, Leontodon taraxacoides, of the year, was seen on the lower slopes. Forget-me-nots were recorded and I do not recall seeing them before on Mill Hill. There were still hundred of violets although they were battered by the recent rain. I thought one had a vague perfume.
 

Milkwort & Horseshoe Vetch	Adonis Blue	Small Heath	Horseshoe Vetch

For the first time this year I travelled to the middle and upper part of Mill Hill, but there were no butterflies seen. There were patches of Horseshoe Vetch on the top plateau (south of the upper car park),  but the meadow north of the car park was in a bad way (like a rough partial cattle pasture).
Hounds-tongue was beginning to flower and the first Wild Mignonette was spotted on the upper plateau of Mill Hill, with White Campion on the roadside. Elderflower was budding with the first flowers noted.

13 May 2012
On the lower slopes of Mill Hill, the Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, flowers were now making a show appreciable enough to be seen as I descended the steps (from the south) where my first Common Lizard Lacerta vivipara, of the year was spotted next to a discarded plastic bag. A new spread of violets were present in hundreds. They all had a purple spur and rounded sepals. Because of their different flowering date and a even violet (with a few white specimens) colour, I have tentatively identified these as Hairy Violets, Viola hirta.
Adur Lizards
Adur Violets
 

Dingy Skipper	Adonis Blue	Common Blue	Hairy Violet

At last the sun came out (13.0 °C at 1:00 pm, with a Moderate Breeze Force 4) and with the warmth encouraged the butterflies and for for the first time this year they were common (100+) on the lower slopes of Mill Hill.  But they were slow to appear at first, frequent Dingy Skippers and a few bright blue male Adonis Blues were both very lively. A pristine Peacock Butterfly basked on a Cotoneaster. After twenty minutes the numbers increased and there were at least twenty Adonis Blues, Dingy Skippers everywhere (60+), a few Green-veined Whites, Brimstone Butterflies of both genders (one female sparred with a Green-veined White), the first male of a few Common Blues of the year, my first of four Small Coppers, occasional Small Heaths, at least two Grizzled Skippers, a fleeting glimpse of a Wall Brown and a single Comma Butterfly. Both the Common Blues and Small Coppers visited Milkworts (not the more plentiful Horseshoe Vetch). One of the Small Heaths was so worn its orange looked the colour of a Gatekeeper. Moths included a Treble-bar and the micro-moth Agapeta hamana.
Full Butterfly Report
Adur Butterflies: First Dates
Adur Skippers

A Green Hairstreak Butterfly visited a Horseshoe Vetch flower on the lower slopes of Mill Hill, as well as taking an excellent photograph of the micro-moth Pancalia leuwenhoekella.

7 May 2012
A quick late afternoon dash to Mill Hill provided the first butterflies of any kind this Bank Holiday! In an hour or so we saw about 20 Dingy Skippers, 5-10 Grizzled Skippers, 1 Peacock, 3 Green Hairstreaks and two lovely fresh Wall Brown Butterflies (first of the year). Small Copper and Small Heath also seen (but not by us).

30 April 2012
A bright turquoise-blue sky showed in the north and east on a breezy unpromising day, but the sun and some of butterflies came out in the afternoon. I checked out the lower slopes of Mill Hill where my first of 14 Dingy Skippers flitted between the thousands of Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, flowers. I also spotted by first Small Heath Butterfly of 2012. The small day-flying pyralid moth Pyrausta nigrata flitted occasionally between the Horseshoe Vetch which all hosted the small black pollen beetles Meligethes.  At the top of the hill around the Alexanders on the east side of the road just north of the hedge by the house, a male Orange-tip Butterfly fluttered around without pausing.
 

Dingy Skipper visiting Horseshoe Vetch with Violet leaves			Milkwort

Flowers noted on the lowers slopes included Horseshoe Vetch, Cowslips, Common Daisies, Milkwort, Germander Speedwell, Bluebells and Dog Violets.
(I was not happy with the focusing and macro of my new Canon SX40 and now wished I had purchased another camera.)
Full Butterfly Report
Adur Skippers

I did my weekly transect at Mill Hill as it was a blue sky day. There were several Green Hairstreaks at the north end of the lower slopes, plus many Dingy Skippers and some Grizzled Skippers. I spotted the brown female Adder at the southern end.

23 April 2012
I left to do my weekly transect at Mill Hill as it was a sunny day (it started raining for all of the afternoon around midday). There was a wind at the start and I was surprised to find a Grizzled Skipper at the top of the hill. Beside the path near the bottom of the hill I found a black Adder. At the bottom there was another Grizzled Skipper, a Green-veined White, a Peacock, a Small Heath, Speckled Wood and many Dingy Skippers, fighting and nectaring. Just below the car park I found a Small Copper, my first of the year. I tried my new camera, a Panasonic Lumix FZ45 with close-up lens, on the Dingy Skippers and am very satisfied with the results. I am getting depth of field, clarity of detail and colour vibrancy that I cannot achieve with my other cameras.

16 April 2012
On a Cumulus day too cool for butterflies, a visit to Mill Hill was only entertained because the forecast for later in the week was worse. On the lower slopes the first flowers of Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, appeared with another prostrate downland herb Milkwort. The tiny black pollen beetles Meligethes scrambled over the flowers on the bank, especially on Horseshoe Vetch, Dandelions and on a few of the violets. Salad Burnet was just beginning to flower and their leaves were commonly seen lying prostrate on the bank. Dog Violets predominated with thousands still present. The thousands of Sweet Violets had all faded, which leaves the identity of some of the fresh violetsnear the bottom of the slope as a bit of a puzzle. I have tentatively identified it as a Hairy Violet. Occasionally, a skipper (butterfly) rose from the ground and fluttered rapidly to a new resting place. The only one positively identified was a fresh Grizzled Skipper. A small bee, one of the Nomada species visited a Dandelion. A few Buff-tailed Bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, were noticeable in the absence of the butterflies.
Adur Violets
Adur Butterfly List 2012
 

Horseshoe Vetch	Salad Burnet	Hairy Violet ?	Grizzled Skipper

Blackthorn was flowering near its peak on the top part of Mill Hill and in the scrub. The first Hawthorn flowers were noted on Mill Hill and the first Blackthorn leaves.
The familiar Kestrel hovered over the middle slopes.

10 April 2012
On a sunny day with a cold wind, the male Adders performed their dominance dance a black snake and a normal patterned one intertwining and raising their heads and front part of their bodies above the flora on the lower slopes of Mill Hill down by the scrub at the bottom (west side). The black Adder discovered a female underneath the Brambles. Grizzled Skippers and Small Heath Butterflies were seen.

6 April 2012
Dingy Skippers, a Small Heath and a Green Hairstreak Butterfly were all seen for the first time this year on the lower slopes of Mill Hill, with Grizzled Skippers, a Speckled Wood, a Green-veined White and a Peacock Butterfly. Four Adders and a green Common Lizard, Lacerta vivipara, completed a very satisfying afternoon.

3 April 2012
An unprecedented 26 Grizzled Skippers were seen on Mill Hill and only one of them was a female. A handful of Peacocks and single Comma and Small White were the only other butterflies seen.

1 April 2012
I visited Mill Hill again to conduct a butterfly transect. Unfortunately due to the cold wind I only recorded three butterflies - a Speckled Wood, a Peacock and a Grizzled Skipper. However, the dearth of butterflies was compensated for by the excellent Adder sightings, all along the bottom of the hill by the bushes. First I saw a black Adder, then two grey ones, which slithered along the bush line in their hunt for food. One moved fast at about about 15 metres per minute and I was able to keep getting ahead of it to take photos as it approached. However, it was too fast to get the shots I was after.

30 March 2012
Finally I gave in to temptation and went to Mill Hill where I saw five Grizzled Skippers in various places. One in particular was immaculate and quite beautiful, so presumably newly emerged. In addition to all the pyralids on the wing I noticed several tiny, but delightful Violet Cosmet Moths, Pancalia leuwenhoekella, (approx. 3-4 mm long).

29 March 2012
Encouraged by the reports of others, I visited Mill Hill and quickly spotted my first Grizzled Skipper of the year  flying around on the northern part of the lower slopes. It might not have been so easy to spot to newcomers as there were scores of smaller day-flying pyralid moths, mostly Pyrausta pupuralis and Pyrausta despicata but also Pyrausta nigrata. There were at least a couple of restless Brimstone Butterflies and a few more Peacock Butterflies on the lower slopes of Mill Hill in the middle of the day sunshine. Dog Violets were in flower now equalled or exceeded the thousands of Sweet Violets on the lower slopes of Mill Hill.
Adur Butterfly List 2012
Adur Violets

27 March 2012
I recorded ten different butterfly species in a day, which I cannot recall ever doing before during the month of March. In just a couple of hours at Mill Hill (Shoreham) I counted four Grizzled Skipper (first of the year), one Orange Tip (first of the year), one Speckled Wood, one Holly Blue((first of the year), one Brimstone, one Small White, 14 Peacock, one Red Admiral, two Small Tortoiseshell and two Comma. The day-flying moths Pyrausta pupuralis and Pyrausta despicata were both present in good numbers, along with the odd Pyrausta nigrata.

I was surprised to find a freshly emerged Grizzled Skipper on Mill Hill. There were also half a dozen Peacocks and a Small Tortoiseshell. Reptiles were also out enjoying the sunshine, one black Adder, two Common Lizards and a Slow Worm.

26 March 2012
 

Sweet Violet        andDog Violet	Dog Violet

Amongst the thousand of Sweet Violets on the lower slopes of Mill Hill, the first Dog Violets were in flower. There were at least two Brimstone Butterflies and at least four  Peacock Butterflies, with at least one more of each over the scrub near the gate to Old Erringham. Small pyralid moths were frequently seen flitting amongst the violets on the lower slopes of Mill Hill, with Pyrausta nigrata, Pyrausta pupuralis and Pyrausta despicata seen very clearly and all three species definitely identified. This was the earliest and the first time in March I seen any of these three species. The micro-moth Violet Cosmet, Pancalia leuwenhoekella, was spotted on a Sweet Violet flower. A Common Bee-Fly, Bombylius major, (first of the year) was spotted over the path amongst the Hawthorn scrub on Mill Hill. On the lower slopes, the yellow flowers were small Dandelions, and a Red-tailed Bumblebee visited the Sweet Violets.
Adur Butterfly List 2012
Adur Butterfly Flight Times
Adur Butterflies: First Dates

The conservation workers have been making inroads on clearing some of the extensive scrub/woodland on the southern part of Mill Hill.
 

20 March 2012 There was now only one Kestrel hovering above Mill Hill on an overcast day.

19 March 2012
A Red Admiral Butterfly flew over the top of Chanctonbury Drive (SE of Mill Hill), only my second species of butterfly seen this year. Long-tailed Tits flew to and from between the hedges and scrub and the Lesser Celandines were in the open gardens that adjoined the grass bank. Two Kestrels soared high over Mill Hill. On the lower slopes many of the thousands of Sweet Violets were looking battered by the recent rain.
Adur Butterfly List 2012
Report on the Mill Hill Blog

12 March 2012
Under a blue sky and weak sunshine (14.6 °C) the Sweet Violets were flowering on Mill Hill, where I saw two Peacock Butterflies (my first two butterflies of the year), one flying across the road at the top of the hill and another one fluttering over the lower slopes. There was frequent small bird calls and activity from the Hawthorn bushes and I caught a glimpse of the small birds but not enough to identify most of them except for the Robin Redbreast. There was extensive moss growing at the southern end of the lower slopes which had been noted early in previous years. The conservation workers had cleared some of the scrub. I only visited the lower slopes and did not see any cattle and only a few dried cow pats on the lower slopes.
Adur Violets
Adur Butterfly List 2012
Adur Butterfly Flight Times
Adur Butterflies: First Dates
 

The photograph on the left is the gall made by the small gall wasp Diplolepis rosae known as Robin's Pin Cushion. It is found on the Dog Rose. Life Cycle The final instar stage is reached by late October. The larva ceases feeding. It now passes into the prepupal stage, in which form it over winters inside the gall known as the bedeguar. In the following February or March the prepupa undergoes a final moult and becomes a pupa.

Peacock Butterfly

10 March 2012
I visited Mill Hill to check out the butterfly transect territory I will be visiting weekly from the beginning of April. I was hoping the Adders would be showing and was rewarded with four basking snakes. I had seen two and was returning by the path and spotted a black one. While photographing this I noticed a grey one slithering away nearby.

Mill Hill Wildlife Reports 2011 (Link)

Identification of Grasses (Link)
Mill Hill Grasses
 
 

The other species may breed on Mill Hill, but there main breeding area will be adjoining fields or slightly further away. e.g. Small Blue (included above), Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Green-veined White, Peacock, Ringlet, Small White, Large White, Comma, Holly Blue, Orange Tip. (=10)

The following are immigrants &/or hibernators:  Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Clouded Yellow.

The following have not been positively identified (because of ID difficulties):  Essex Skipper. This species is now included for a local field on the Adur Levels within 500 metres of Mill Hill.

(=30)

The following was confirmed only in 2009: Green Hairstreak.
(=31)

The next one is no longer found on Mill Hill but were there in the recent (reduced drastically to almost extinct by 1948 last record in  1968) past: Dark Green Fritillary (Records of this butterfly in 1857, 1938, and 1945 when it was common.)
The next one is no longer found on Mill Hill but were there in the distant (1947) past: Grayling.
The next one has been recorded near Mill Hill in the middle distance past:  White-letter Hairstreak

(=34)

The Silver-spotted Skipper does not appear to ever have occurred on Mill Hill
The Silver-studded Blue has never been recorded from Mill Hill

The Short-tailed Blue was recorded as a single immigrant in 1956.

17 August 2009
A possible (unconfirmed) Brown Hairstreak Butterfly was spotted. A confirmed one was spotted nearby.

There is also the possibility of one of the Fritillary butterflies.
 

Adur Butterfly Page

History of Mill Hill

Aerial Map
Lower Adur Levels (MultiMap) including Lancing Clump and Mill Hill