Mud Flats in the Adur Valley Estuary, West Sussex, England

Adur Flood Plain

Chalk Downs

Coastal Fringe

Intertidal (Seashore)

River Adur Estuary

River Adur

Sea (off Sussex)

Town & Gardens

Widewater Lagoon

ADUR NATURE NOTES
2002

AREA MAP
(ADUR VALLEY & DOWNS)

Adur Valley Wildlife

Shoreham-by-Sea: River Adur Estuary
Mudflats Special Page

The mud flats are a roosting site for gulls and waders, especially in the colder months.

The mud flats (TQ 208 056) including the RSPB Reserve has been notified from 1987 as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) under Section 28 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981.

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Adur Estuary 2005

3 December 2007
A Kestrel hovered over the Sea Purslane at low tide south of Old Shoreham Tollbridge and then descended. The target prey was not determined.
25 August 2005
After the rain I ventured out as the spring tide nearly lapped against the banks of the Adur estuary. Just south of the Toll Bridge there was still a margin of vegetation above the high tide mark on the east side of the river, with Orache and other wild grasses and plants and this area hosted dozens of active grasshoppers that appeared to jump at least of metre. They looked slightly different from the two commonly found on the downs meadows and wastelands on the edge of town. I think some of them are probably the Lesser Marsh Grasshopper, Chorthippus albomarginatus.
Adur Grasshoppers

Estuarine Flowering Plants

The upper tidal zone of the mud-flats contained Sea Purslane and Glasswort in prevalent amounts and bunches of Townsend's Cord Grass.
Adur Estuary 2005
20 October 2003
The low tide means that it is just about possible to examine some of the plants on the flats without squelching through the soft mud.
Small patches of what is probably Townsend's Cord Grass, Spartina townsendii, were found south-east of the Toll Bridge. Townsend's Cord Grass has a particulary interesting origin (see the Reader's Digest "Secrets of the Seashore" page 75, a new plant species evolving in the nineteenth century).


*Spartina*	Cord Grass

Although not quite so dramatic as Widewater, the Glasswort, Salicornia, on the estuarine margins have now turned a dramatic red.
Glasswort Images
19 October 2003
The neap tide variation between 2.36 metres (low at 12.04 pm) and the high tide of 4.4 metres (6:14 pm in darkness) is one of the smallest possible. (The equinoctial spring tide variation could be up to 7 metres).
BMLSS Tides
16 September 2003
The green of the Glasswort, Salicornia, on the River Adur was in contrast to the rich red-purple hues of the mostly submerged (this year) Glasswort on Widewater.

On close examination, the larger river Glassworts seemed to have a red line up their stems.

Verdant Mud 1999

In the prolonged hot and dry spell for the complete month of July, the mud flats on the part of the River Adur that runs through the centre of Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, turned green with a rapid spread of the salt tolerant green plant known as the Common Glasswort, Salicornia europea. This plant is collected for food when it is known as Marsh Samphire, and is meant to be a poor man's asparagus. It tastes like a mouthful of seawater to me. The plant roots in the estuarine mud in salinities of about 3.2% but variable from full salinity with an incoming spring tide, to fresh water running out over the top of the sea water.

Young shoots

This bright green plant has cylindrical stems with paired branches like the stems which are the leaves. As the year goes on the stems and branches turn a slight yellowish hue in autumn. The small flowers are the same colour as the rest of the plant and are inconspicuous. All the plants occur outside of the main stream of the river near mean low water mark. The seeds need exposure to air to germinate and will not establish if they are permanently submerged.

Nearer the riverbank, Sea Purslane, Halimione portulacoides, predominates. It is easily distinguished from Glasswort because its conventional leaves have a silvery sheen.

Seablite, Suaeda maritima, is extremely frequently to be found, and the Sea Aster, Aster tripolium, also commonly occurs.

The Sea Lavender, Limonium vulgare was introduced, but may no longer occur. The Cord Grass, Spartina spp. occurs.

Irish Moss

In the river opposite Ropetackle (Between the Norfolk bridge and the Railway Viaduct), in the pools between the mussel beds at low tide, small clumps of Irish Moss, Chondrus crispus, grow on the mussel and oyster shells and small flint rocks. This red seaweed is usually a dark brown, sometimes with a slightly iridescent hue, and in very bright sunlight, the weed will turn green at the tips and stranded specimens are often bright green as shown in the image (above) scanned in by David Wood (Shoreham Beach).