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Date: Tuesday 14th May 2024 Confirmed departure
Price: £75 Full
Price Includes: Services of the guide for the day 09:00 – 17:00, transport by minibus
Not included: Lunch, drinks & snacks
Meeting place: Shoreham-by-Sea Train Station
Leader: Terry Goble (second guide for larger groups)
Group Size: Minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 guests plus 1-2 leaders
Conservation donation: Butterfly Conservation
Holiday Highlights
- Enjoy a spring day out in Sussex for butterflies & other wildlife
- Led by local naturalist Terry Goble
- We will visit key locations to look for our main target of Duke of Burgundy
- Other butterfly highlights we may see include
- Relaxed pace to full appreciate the wildlife & for photography
- In support of Butterfly Conservation
We invite you to join us for a spring day out in Sussex, looking for Duke of Burgundy, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Grizzled & Dingy Skippers, plus other butterflies!
Your Guide
Terry Goble has undertaken voluntary work for the RSPB, Bat conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation and fund raising for many wildlife charities. Later he studied for a degree in Environment and Conservation. During his degree years he focused on his passion for butterflies and studied the fluctuating populations of butterflies on the South Downs. He enjoyed tracking the spread of species such as Silver-spotted Skipper, but was alarmed at the decline of some much-loved species. He continues voluntary work to help restore habitat and conserve these precious but diminishing populations. After university Terry started to look to change his career and stumbled upon leading tours for wildlife holiday companies, which seemed to fit his profile of interests for travel, animals and of course people. Over the ensuing years he has now led many butterfly tours to Europe including Hungary, Croatia, Romania and Greece and has also enjoyed learning to identify butterflies in some more exotic locations. He has had the opportunity to unravel some of the myriad species of butterflies in the Americas, ‘glasswings’ being a particular favourite. He also very much enjoys sharing knowledge with others and is equally happy to learn from people as well.
In May the butterfly season really starts to get under way and there are always migrant birds turning up. At this time of year, the woodlands harbour pearl-bordered fritillaries in a very few Sussex locations, often joined by orange tips. Whilst out on the downlands Duke of Burgundy are beginning to take to the wing in the company of grizzled and dingy skippers and green hairstreak.
On the birding front nightingales and turtle doves take up territory and the white storks are busy breeding and laying. Red kites and buzzards are soaring over the downs and there is always a chance of white-tailed eagle!
The target species for this day trip will be the Duke of Burgundy butterfly. This nationally scarce butterfly is found on a few locations on the South Downs and in most years reasonable numbers, as careful site management has allowed this attractive butterfly to thrive locally.
We will gather at Shoreham Train Station at 9am, before heading off on a short drive North to a couple of downland sites. Here the Dukes can be found among a variety of other interesting invertebrates and flora. Depending on our success here we may visit and other near-by site, which has been managed for both Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Duke of Burgundy. There is a steep climb to the site for the Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. If this is too challenging then we can visit and alternative site, which is a thirty-minute drive away. There is a bonus of Tiger beetles at the alternative site!
We will pick up lunch from a supermarket on route and stop to use their facilities and picnic at one of the butterfly sites to ensure we maximise our time.
The trip will end approximately 5pm and we will return clients to Shoreham train station or a mutually convenient site if possible.
To follow
New trip – testimonials will appear later
New tour so reports will follower at a later date