For our April meeting we welcomed Dan Oakley, Lead Ranger from the South Downs National Park International Dark Sky Reserve (IDSR), known as Moore’s Reserve, who gave a fascinating presentation on this important and valuable asset.

In 2016 the South Downs National Park became the 2nd (IDSR) in England and 12th in the world. There are more than 2 million people living within 5kms of Moore’s Reserve so it is one of the most accessible in the country. To map the night sky quality 25,000 different measurements had to be made and 66 per cent of the South Downs National Park has Bronze Level Skies.

The dark skies over South East England are constantly under threat from light pollution from building development, and as a result of this 2,700 street lights have already been replaced with downward facing LED lights. Dan emphasised that much of the outside lighting used at night was inefficient, overly bright, poorly targeted, improperly shielded and also in many cases completely unnecessary. He encouraged us all to think carefully about where and how we light our properties.

Dark skies are not only good for star gazing but are also beneficial for nocturnal wildlife, helping moths and bats to thrive.

Dan had insisted that the meeting room should be made as dark as possible at the start of his presentation and cleverly demonstrated the effect of light pollution. He firstly displayed on the screen a stunning photograph of the centre of the Milky Way, he then, without warning, shone a bright torch into the room. The result being that the Milky Way disappeared from the photograph, emulating the effect of light pollution in the real world.

In future the South Downs National Park will use its role as a planning authority to protect the dark skies above the National Park as well as the landscape on the ground. Specific lighting requirements for developers to meet will be included in the Draft Policies of the Local Plan.

A short AGM took place after refreshments where a new committee member, Chris Dilks, was elected and all existing committee members were re-elected unopposed.

Tricia Hall followed with Nature Notes and reported that many butterflies had been seen such as the Brimstone, Peacock, Red Admiral, Commas and Orange Tip. Cowslips, Primroses and Celandines are in bloom in Clover Lane and on the Rife White Blackthorn blossom is evident. Around ten Wheatear had been spotted in the vicinity and a Cuckoo has been heard around the East Preston/Ferring Gap. Whitethroat and Blackcap are about and a Chiffchaff has been seen at Warren Pond along with a nesting pair of Moorhens.

To conclude the meeting Ed Miller advised us that six planning applications for Ferring were due for discussion at the next Development Control Committee meeting in May. There are two new applications; one in McIntyre’s Lane for the conversion of an old silo into offices and at 78, Langbury Lane for conversion to a home for Adults with Special Needs. Ed commented that the Arun Draft Local Plan is due for consideration in early July.

We welcomed back Neil Hulme from Butterfly Conservation for a second visit, this time to take us on a seasonal journey through Sussex with a talk entitled ‘Sublime Sussex Wildlife’, highlighting the wonderful and diverse range of wildlife that we are blessed with in our county. Since his last visit to us Neil has deservedly been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his outstanding services to wildlife conservation. He has been credited with saving the rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly from extinction in Sussex and has made a major contribution to saving other rare species.

In his usual informative and relaxed manner Neil illustrated his talk with many beautiful photographs. Some of these were taken by a leading wildlife photographer but many were taken by Neil himself, although he admits his camera has many limitations he was fortunate enough to be able to get very close to his subjects.

Neil explained that because of phenology i.e.; climate change and weather patterns, much wildlife could be seen a little earlier in the year than is usual. For instance the Small Tortoiseshell butterfly can be spotted around 3 weeks before its original emergence date due to its reliance on young nettles which are abundant as early as mid-February.

As we journeyed through the seasons Neil suggested ideal locations for us to visit to view wildlife, including the Norfolk Estate, Mill Hill, Cissbury Ring, Knepp Castle Estate, West Dean Woods and Harting Down, not forgetting the Rife and Beach at Ferring. It is without doubt that several landowners have played an important role in increasing numbers of threatened species; for example in 2002 the Grey Partridge faced extinction throughout Sussex and the ‘Norfolk Estate Recovery Project’ turned the situation around and increased numbers considerably and they have found a haven on the Estate. Likewise the owner of the Knepp Castle Estate developed a radically different approach by turning away from intensive farming, by using grazing animals to help establish a functioning ecosystem, where nature is given the freedom to thrive with little interference by man.

In the second half of our meeting Tricia Hall presented her Nature Notes and had brought in an abandoned nest that had been found on the ground under a conifer along the banks of the Rife. Tricia asked the audience for suggestions as to which bird had meticulously constructed it. She then made us aware of forms that were available at the back of the hall for members with ponds to take and record sightings of frogs, toads and their spawn. Tricia also advised us that a Lapwing and a Shoveler Duck had been spotted along the Rife and a flock of Golden Plover were seen in a field near the Country Centre.

Ed Miller updated us with news that the proposed ninth apartment at the former Beehive Cottage site had been refused. The four proposed houses at 44, Ferringham Lane had been approved subject to conditions. The Peugeot car dealership along the A 259 have applied to have the existing bungalow demolished, a new building for their head office and an additional showroom for a Honda car dealership. ASDA have submitted plans for a petrol station on the north east of their site and Arun DC are awaiting more details. A planning application has been submitted for 43 large storage containers to be sited at the former McIntyre’s nursery land. Ed concluded by advising us that the Arun Local Plan should be approved shortly.

At their end of February meeting at the Village Hall, members of Ferring Conservation Group were entertained by guest presenter, Graeme Lyons, who is the Senior Ecologist at the Sussex Wildlife Trust. He was intending to talk about the Invertebrates of the SWT Reserves, but a late change of plan led to him presenting his Top 100 Wildlife Highlights in Sussex, which happened to consist of around 80% invertebrates.

Graham who also happens to be the County Recorder of Spiders, as well as in his own words – “Bugs”, counted down his highlights from number 100 to number 1 all in the space of an hour. This was packed with useful information, and included among others beetles, spiders, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, fungi, fish and birds, and all of these had been seen in the County.

He illustrated his talk with some excellent close up photos, and some other distant shots which by his own admission were taken on the spur of the moment, including a quail that was just disappearing out of shot! The names of various species were just as entertaining – the Wart Biter cricket, the Strawberry spider (which looks just like one), the Purse-Web spider (our only Tarantula) and even the interestingly named Bastard-Toadflax Shieldbug.

The top three of his 100 were at number 3 – the Portuguese Man 0’War jellyfish seen on the beach at Portslade, number 2 – the Crimson Speckled moth, and finally at number 1 – Calosoma Sycophanta, an incredibly rare flying beetle seen by him in a field near Bishopstone in East Sussex, which was the first recorded sighting in Sussex since the 18th Century.

To conclude the meeting, Tricia Hall presented her Nature Notes, which included the first sightings of the year of frog spawn, and Ed Miller updated members on planning matters, which included the welcome news that the appeal against Arun District Council’s refusal of the plan for 23 Yurts and associated buildings on the southern slopes of Highdown had rightly in our opinion been turned down.