Description

NEW! Join us for a late summer day out in Sussex, looking for Brown Hairstreak, Silver-spotted Skipper, plus other late summer butterflies.

The day will begin at our meeting point, at Shoreham Train station at 9am.

We will then drive to Brighton to search amongst the sweet pea for emerging Long-tailed Blues, now thought to be over wintering and certainly breeding in Brighton. We can also keep a lookout for Brown hairstreak, but they are scarce here. Clouded Yellow is also likely at this site.

A more reliable site for the brown hairstreak is at Steyning.  The Brown Hairstreak is a tricky butterfly to see well as it spends much of its time zig zagging around the tops of blackthorn shrubs. However, with patience the females come down to the young blackthorn to lay eggs and then superb views can be had.  With luck the males may also follow.

On route we will stop off at Holmbush to gather supplies for a picnic lunch and use the facilities. The paths are mostly flat and slightly uneven. There is a short decent to the valley bottom at Steyning, which is a 5 minuet walk. Depending on the sightings the tour will finish around 5pm and the clients will be returned to Shoreham Station.