MILL HILL, Shoreham - a National Trust Property

ACCESS: You can reach this superb area from the A27, turning off at Lancing and dropping down on to the road to Shoreham. At Old Shoreham, bear left at the small roundabout into Shoreham Road, then take a turning on the left which climbs up quite steeply and so crosses high over the A27. Beyond is some splendid grassland and downland slopes. It is a wonderful vantage point, overlooking the Adur Valley and Shoreham Airport.

Generally, it is a place to wander, and is best on a week-day, rather than at week-ends when on sunny days it is a popular place for general visitors. Well-worn foot-paths allow general exploration along the side of the valley for a short distance. We usually allow a couple of hours, although one could, of course, walk on farther up the Hill, although this would be along a metalled road. Traffic is mostly tractors and other farm vehicles.

BIRDLIFE: As one might expect, birdlife is limited. It is a good spot for passing migrants: we have noted Wheatears and an assortment of warblers. Spring and late-summer passage birds might include raptors. For satisfactory results, the area needs to be watched regularly. Breeding birds appear to be few, but we have noted Corn Buntings (singing and presumably on territory) and until relatively recently the paddocks and livestock on the northern side of the bridge over the A27 attracted large numbers of House Sparrows.

PLANTS: Some typical chalkland plants may be seen here: Rampion, Eyebright, Yellow Toadflax, Autumn Gentian and Greater Knapweed.

INSECTS: Butterflies are good during the summer months, with Chalkhill Blues and Brown Arguses notable at the appropriate flight times. We have seen Adonis Blue here, too, also Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Wall Brown and Speckled Wood. When migrants are passing through - Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Clouded Yellow.

The only dragonflies we have noted are Migrant Hawkers which tend to turn up almost anywhere, especially during times of immigration.

REPTILES and AMPHIBIANS: We have never seen Adders, but there is a distinct possibility that the species occurs, especially as there are some areas of dense and almost impenetrable cover (at least to humans!).

To give you a better impression of what this area has to offer, we include a number of Diary entries below. Our visits have been in the late summer, mainly for butterflies, but no doubt other times would be profitable, as well.

2001 - 24 August:
We drove to Brighton today, and called in at Mill Hill on the way home. Our walk there was very pleasant indeed. The sunshine was very hot indeed and as a result we saw quite a few butterflies. MEADOW BROWNS were numerous, and we noted a couple of GATEKEEPERS and a battered WALL BROWN. Up to 20 SMALL TORTOISESHELLS were recorded, also five PAINTED LADIES, some of them pristine and so, perhaps, home-bred insects. SMALL WHITES were frequent. Two RED ADMIRALS were recorded but there were no Peacocks. At least two BROWN ARGUS butterflies were seen, and many COMMON BLUES, almost all of them males. Two CHALKHILL BLUES were seen, one of them a very battered female, the other a male in quite good condition. Both of these were actively seeking nourishment on what were, to our eyes, dead CARLINE THISTLE' heads. There were no signs of any late Adonis Blues. Two good records were of SMALL HEATHS, both seen in open-grass situations. At least five SPECKLED WOODS, two of them a potential pair, the male displaying to the female, were seen in shady situations. A beautiful male BRIMSTONE completed our list. CINNABAR MOTH caterpillar were seen on RAGWORT. Birds were few, but we saw lots of LINNETS and heard both BLACKCAP and COMMON WHITETHROAT.

Flowering plants of note today included GREATER KNAPWEED, RAGWORT, AUTUMN GENTIAN, RAMPION, EYEBRIGHT, and a SCABIOUS sp.

Our stay lasted a couple of hours, just long enough to see some nice things. The temperature at home had risen to 77 Fahrenheit during our absence and was clearly hitting the mid-80s while we were exploring the Hill.

1997 - 10 August:
A beautiful and hot, sunny morning with blue skies from the word go. After an early lunch, we drove to Mill Hill. The traffic was not bad at all, although busy, of course. The 35-mile journey took us 45 minutes. We parked in the small car-park initially, walking along the hillside through the grasses and scattered bushes. Although many of the flowers were past their best, there were still plenty of plants in flower, particularly UMBELLIFERS and KNAPWEEDS, both GREATER and the smaller species.

At first, butterflies were decidedly thin on the ground, but just as last year (as I recalled!) by the time we had reached the Southern Water Compound, we ran into lots which were flying amongst the flowers. Our first was a CHALKHILL BLUE, feeding at KNAPWEED. After that one, we began to see them almost all the time and when we scanned the steep slope below us, they were flying all over the place, although in not quite the same numbers as last year. A SMALL TORTOISESHELL was next and of this species I suppose we must have seen at least scattered through the area. Almost all were at KNAPWEED or GREATER KNAPWEED. MEADOW BROWNS were scarce and I reckon that we saw altogether no more than eight or nine. HEDGE BROWNS were numerous around the bushes, and several others were behaving quite out of context by dropping down amongst the grasses, right out in the open. The only explanation seemed to be that it was so hot that they were quite simply taking cover. SKIPPERS were not numerous: the one I looked at carefully was a SMALL SKIPPER.

SMALL HEATHS were nice to see and I managed to get pictures of a pair in copulation. The number of this species was small, but we thought about 15 would be a fairly accurate estimate. A BROWN ARGUS on RAMPION was good to see. Later on we had at least two more. This reminded me of the one which I had in the garden on Saturday. Like that one, those seen this afternoon were completely brown above. A really tiny BROWN ARGUS had a conspicuous orange flush on the under-side of the forewings.

The one butterfly which I had hoped that we might see appeared at last! A superb male ADONIS BLUE. After that, we found a number more. Almost all were males, but we saw at least two females, one of them in company with a male. The colour of the males was beautiful. The total number was around 20 individuals, good considering that it is at the beginning of their flight season.

Making our way back, just beyond the Southern Water Compound, we ran into two PAINTED LADIES, both on KNAPWEED. Shortly afterwards, farther down the hill, we saw another. COMMON BLUE butterflies had been elusive, but we found one definite one, a male. SIX SPOT BURNET MOTHS were not numerous, but we saw several flying over the grasses and flowers.

Birds were scarce. I saw a single CORN BUNTING which was sitting up on a bush by the side of the road. As I got my glasses on to it, it flew off. The usual flock of HOUSE SPARROWS was along the road. There must have been 50 or so. A brown WHEATEAR was perched up on a piece of dead herbage on the steep slope.

We explored the whole of the hillside, working our way along until we were below the car-park which is at the top of the hill and then coming back to our car by a different route.

It had been a splendid afternoon!

Walking along the side of the valley revealed knee-high vegetation to begin with, and very few butterflies. In fact, I was quite disappointed. However, within a hundred yards or so, we ran into simply masses of butterflies, mostly CHALKHILL BLUES, for the most part males, but with many females, too, lots on GREATER KNAPWEEDS. Our main quarry was the ADONIS BLUE, of course, and we were not disappointed. We were soon looking at our first males, and we were sure that there were many females, too, although our experience needs to be extended before we can become confident. COMMON BLUES were identified for certain, almost all males. It was certainly appropriate to look at all blues which we considered to be either Adonis or Common Blues since the former certainly varies in the depth and shade of blue. A good Adonis male cannot be mistaken, but there were quite a number which were very close in shade to male Common Blues. Only the black and white chequered markings along the edge of the wings of the Adonis enabled confident identification. CLOUDED YELLOWS were about, and altogether we saw at least six. PAINTED LADIES were numerous.

Walking further, we found that the slope of the valley below was alive with CHALKHILL BLUE males, all flying low over the turf. It was a remarkable sight. SMALL HEATHS were around in small numbers, and some of the flower heads were heavy with butterflies, including what we thought were female ADONIS BLUES - at least they had black and white chequered along the wings! Some, however, could have been female CHALKHILL BLUES: we could not see the upper sides. GATEKEEPERS and MEADOW BROWNS were on the wing, and I had one ESSEX SKIPPER. A SMALL COPPER was one of a number of this species. A SMALL WHITE flew by, and then I spotted two BROWN ARGUSES, this time a pair, the male pursuing the female.

A couple who came along looked familiar. They were also looking at butterflies and recognised me from lectures which I had given to the Horsham Nats from time to time. CHALKHILL BLUES were simply abundant, and we saw yet more ADONIS BLUES as we continued along the hillside. A single PEACOCK was basking on the ground.

We made our way back to the car, where, by the ponies and sheep, there were some 200 HOUSE SPARROWS.

Rather than stay where we were, we drove up to the top of the hill where we parked and ate lunch. The view was grand. Two RED ADMIRALS zoomed past, heading down the valley, and there were a few blues around, although I could not be absolutely sure of their identity.

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