Geograph - photograph every grid square

Butterflies

Readers and local societies may be interested in a colour computer presentation I do about the “Natural History of Mill Hill”, including the documented farming practices of the centuries on the downs north of Shoreham, the flora and fauna especially the nationally important population of chalkhill blue and thirty other species of butterflies.

For most part the nature reserve has been managed as a rabbit warren as the undisturbed land has never been fertile enough for use as pasture and it contains toxic plants notably an important bank of prostrate horseshoe vetch (the larval food plant for the butterflies) and the invasive wild privet that is threatening to destroy the butterfly plants. In 1937, 724 acres of downland were presented to the people of Shoreham. Less than 30 acres remain as public open land.

The information is also available on several web pages. The site is threatened by grazing (which breaks up the integral nature of the flora) and invasion by scrub, principally the toxic privet. Once destroyed it would take more than a human lifetime for recover and with the current management policy will destroy all the butterflies within fifteen years.

Mill Hill 2006
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/MillHill2006.html
Shoreham Bank 2006
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/VetchTrail2006.htm

Adur Butterfly List 2006
http://tinyurl.com/peper

Cheers

Andy Horton
Tel: 01273 465433
glaucus@hotmail.com
Adur Valley Nature Notes (including Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex)
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2005.html
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2006.html
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2007.html