Radio Free Brighton

Nature lov­ers are being encour­aged to join a hunt in coun­tryside and open spaces around Brighton & Hove to find the eggs of a rare butterfly.

 

The elu­sive Brown Hair­streak — a nation­ally scarce spe­cies which has suffered a dra­matic decline in num­bers over the last dec­ade — was last year spot­ted in the city at Patcham.

 

Now Brighton & Hove City Council’s coun­tryside rangers and but­ter­fly experts want to find out if the spe­cies is breed­ing in other parts of the city as well.

 

As a res­ult they are organ­ising hunts at six dif­fer­ent loc­a­tions on the week­end of Feb­ru­ary 25 and 26 (see details below) for adults and chil­dren to search for the eggs of the Brown Hair­streak — which are easier to spot than the but­ter­fly itself.

 

The aim is to dis­cover just how far the range of the but­ter­fly extends and help to extend it fur­ther by provid­ing inform­a­tion on steps to encour­age the Brown Hair­streak by provid­ing suit­able habitats.

 

Coun­cil­lor Pete West, Brighton & Hove City Council’s Cab­inet Mem­ber for Envir­on­ment and Sus­tain­ab­il­ity, who will be tak­ing part in one of the hunts on Sunday*, said: “Winter may seem a strange time to look for a but­ter­fly, but in the case of the Brown Hair­streak the adults are so elu­sive, spend­ing most of their lives in the tops of trees and bushes where it is hard to see them, that it is easier to find the eggs. These are laid on black­thorn twigs and chil­dren are par­tic­u­larly good at spot­ting them!

 

“We hope people of all ages will join in the hunts, they prom­ise to be a great way of find­ing out more about wild­life on our doorstep.”

 

Dr Dan Dana­har, Brighton & Hove Con­ser­va­tion officer for the Sus­sex branch of But­ter­fly Con­ser­va­tion and a local teacher, said: “But­ter­fly Con­ser­va­tion is delighted that Brighton & Hove’s Coun­tryside Rangers are organ­ising a hunt to look for the eggs of the Brown Hair­streak butterfly.

 

“This is a nation­ally scare but­ter­fly spe­cies which has shown a decline of 40 per cent over the last ten years. It spends the major­ity of its adult life in the can­op­ies of trees, where it is dif­fi­cult to observe but it passes the winter as a con­spicu­ous white egg on Black­thorn bushes.

 

“Last year a female was recor­ded from Patcham, so it is very pos­sible that the spe­cies is already breed­ing here in the city. If we can identify any loc­a­tions where the spe­cies occurs, we can start to man­age the hab­it­ats to sup­port the but­ter­fly. With help from Brighton & Hove’s Coun­tryside rangers we hope to help to stem the national decline of this species.”

 

The but­ter­fly lays its eggs in young black­thorn bushes in sheltered sites, in sunny aspects, so meas­ures such as cut­ting back old black­thorn to cre­ate new growth, and sheltered spaces, can help to provide a suit­able habitat.

 

Join the egg hunt and learn more about the but­ter­fly at the fol­low­ing loc­a­tions, for fur­ther inform­a­tion con­tact Brighton & Hove City Coun­cil on 01273 292929:

 

Sat­urday Feb­ru­ary 25

 

10.30am Ben­field Hill/ Ben­field Golf Course

Meet out­side Hangleton Manor, Hangleton Val­ley Drive

 

1.30pm Holling­bury Woods

Meet Holling­bury Park, Ditch­ling Road, oppos­ite Wood­bourne Avenue

 

3.00pm Beven­dean

Meet out­side the Com­munity Centre, Nor­wich Drive

 

 

Sunday Feb­ru­ary 26

10.30am Beacon Hill, Rottingdean

Meet at the top of Beacon Hill Road

 

12noon White­hawk Hill

Meet at entrance to Wye­vale Garden Centre War­ren Road

 

2pm Water­hall

Meet at the bot­tom of the Water­hall golf course car park (off Dyke Road)

*Cllr Pete West, Brighton & Hove City Council’s Cab­inet Mem­ber for Envir­on­ment and Sus­tain­ab­il­ity, will be tak­ing part in this hunt with his family.