Orchids
Botanical Survey
30/07/10 13:04 Filed in: Sightings
Another botanical survey took place on the site today.
Here are some photos taken by Sherie New of species found:
Here are some photos taken by Sherie New of species found:
Birdsfoot Trefoil
Carline Thistle 
Dwarf Thistle 
Field Mint 
Pyramidal Orchid
Surveys
14/06/10 13:45 Filed in: Sightings
Good to see a group of local volunteers getting down to some serious botanical surveying on the Rifle Range & the Steyning Coombe. Today’s survey is part of an on-going series throughout the summer months. 
I saw 3 Meadow Brown butterflies today, the first of the year, and also a few Large Skippers, Common Blues, a Grass Snake and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth collecting nectar in the Rifle Range. The Common Spotted Orchids are finally looking good on the Rifle Range orchid bank. They also seem to be thriving on the Steyning Coombe, especially where the trees & scrub have been cut along the new fence.
PV
I saw 3 Meadow Brown butterflies today, the first of the year, and also a few Large Skippers, Common Blues, a Grass Snake and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth collecting nectar in the Rifle Range. The Common Spotted Orchids are finally looking good on the Rifle Range orchid bank. They also seem to be thriving on the Steyning Coombe, especially where the trees & scrub have been cut along the new fence.
PV
Life & Death
17/05/10 16:26 Filed in: Sightings
- Lovely sunny morning & actually reasonably warm for a change. On the Steyning Coombe, 4x Small Heath Butterflies. These are really small & easily mistaken for a moth as they fly by.Early Purple Orchids will be out soon, Twayblades already flowering.Curiously, not a single butterfly seen on the Rifle Range.
A pair of Kestrels flew over, one disturbed from a tree, also a noisy Jay.
On the Rifle Range, mother & offspring doing well! (Life)
Also saw a fox running off with a freshly caught rabbit. (Death). Nature will always find a balance between predators & prey. It’s only us humans who disturb this. Then wildlife becomes ‘vermin’....
PV
Rifle Range Walk
- Another beautiful, if chilly, May morning. Fencing contractors busy finishing off the Rifle Range fencing. Many Yellowhammers in the bushes along with Whitethroats, Longtailed Tits, & Dunnocks. Saw the first Early Purple Orchid of the year, and Cowslips in isolated clumps. The Sussex cattle have make a huge difference to the amount of coarse grass growth all over the Rifle Range. It will be interesting to see how this affects the less vigorous chalk downland species, hopefully giving them more of a chance to flourish.
