This day trip starts in the Sussex town of Shoreham, where we can meet at the train station and at a designated parking spot. From here we will explore the beautiful South Downs for spring butterflies. This will include the attractive Green Hairstreak and the early skippers, both Grizzled and Dingy. There may also be a few overwintering species on the wing. On a sunny day and if there is interest we may also take in a few reptiles such as Wall Lizard and Adder, whilst having an ear out for early migrant birds.

After a lunch and comfort stop we will then head over towards East Brighton to another downland area and set off for a walk along the downland ridge towards the South-facing scarp face of the downs where we should find a healthy colony of the intriguing and rare Early Spider Orchids. All the while looking out for spring butterflies and migrant birds in this classic downland setting.

The walks are moderately difficult as we will be walking along narrow paths descending into reasonably steep valleys and of course up again. The longest walk will take about 30-35 mins.

Itinerary:

We will will meet at Shoreham Station for 10am and at Edburton Road at 10:15pm. After a couple of hours exploring the downland nature reserve we will drive to a local store to purchase lunch and use the facilities. We will (weather dependent) have lunch at the historic Shoreham Fort, keeping an eye out for migratory birds and wall lizards. We then drive for 20 mins to East Brighton where we will park and walk across the downland ridge along an easy path for 20 mins. We then descend into a valley and up a slope to the orchid site. We aim to finish the day around 5pm and I will return you to shoreham station and your cars as the day concludes.