BUTTERFLY RESERVES IN DORSET
ALNERS GORSE, Hazelbury Bryan, North Dorset
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| Alners Gorse (Nigel Spring) | Alners Gorse - winter view (Nigel Spring) |
Alners Gorse Reserve was purchased by Butterfly Conservation in 2005 from a local charitable trust, The William Williams Charity. It is one of the few relics of the heavily wooded landscape with its mosaic of small herb-rich pastures on heavy clay soils that used to make up the medieval Royal Forests of Gillingham and Blackmore. Much of the land in the Blackmore Vale has been ploughed and drained and has lost the rich diversity of animals and plants that it must have once had.
Alners Gorse is 14.4 hectares (35 acres) of grassland, blackthorn scrub and oak, birch and conifer woodland, a rich mixture of habitats for wildlife. It supports flourishing populations of Nightingales and Brown Hairstreak butterflies both dependant on the blackthorn and gorse thickets, and a very rich moth fauna including several nationally scarce species. About 20% of the UK’s moth species have been found on this reserve.
We aim to manage the grassland on the reserve to encourage the internationally threatened Marsh Fritillary butterfly which was formerly abundant in the area. We have thinned out the planted oaks and intend to remove most of the conifer plantation planted since the 1950’s in the northernmost sector of the reserve.
Species to look out for:
Butterflies
Marsh Fritillary
White Admiral and
Silver-washed Fritillary in the woods
Brown Hairstreaks in July and August
Purple Hairstreaks in the oaks in August
White-letter Hairstreaks in the elm hedge in July.
Look out also for Red Admirals, Commas and Peacocks enjoying the blackberry crop in the autumn!
Moths
About one fifth of all the UK mothspecies have been seen on this reserve, a reflection of the wealth of the flora of the area. As well as the rarities like the Dingy Mocha, Sallow Clearwing and Ruddy Carpet, the range of shape, size and colour of the more common moths to be seen here is astounding. Regular moth trapping events are open to the public – please see our website.
Birds:
Nightingale
Garden Warbler
Green and Greater Spotted Woodpeckers
Buzzard, Kestrel, possibly Hobby in summer
Barn Owls breed nearby
Access:
Grid reference: ST 736100 on Explorer Map 117 or Landranger 194.
There is permissive open access on foot to the reserve at all times. The entrance is on the road from Hazelbury Bryan to Kings Stag beside the Hazelbury Bryan village sign and 30mph sign. Park on the road verge well away from the bend.
It is often wet and muddy so waterproof footwear is recommended. Please keep away from the grazing animals and ensure dogs are kept under control. Camping, riding or vehicles are not allowed on the reserve.
Educational Access: to find out about opportunities for schools and other groups to visit this reserve, please contact Butterfly Conservation on 01929.400209.
Guided walks and Conservation Action Days To find out more, refer to the Events section of the Butterfly Conservation website.
BROADCROFT QUARRY, Portland
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| Broadcroft Scrape (J Davis) |
This reserve is a disused, infilled limestone quarry leased from the quarry company since 1994 and part of the Isle of Portland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It supports a stunning array of plants and insects and is an excellent example of how ‘brownfield’ land can be managed for nature conservation. Area: 7.3 hectares (18 acres).
The stony, calcareous soil supports a herb-rich flora with local plants such as bee and pyramidal orchids, yellow vetchling, autumn gentian and ivy broomrape. Sparse vegetation conditions are ideal for such plants as well as the key butterflies and other insects. The scrub provides shelter and habitat for birds but readily invades the open areas.
Site management aims to provide more open grassland and short sward conditions. Innovative surface-scraping has been successfully employed to re-recreate the special conditions needed by the Silver-studded Blue and the Black Ants that it is associated with. This is the ‘cretaceous’ form of the Silver-studded Blue, now possibly only found on Portland.
Species to look out for:
Butterflies Silver-studded Blues late June/early July |
-Plebeius-argus--Ken-Dolbear.jpg) |
Silver-studded Blue (Ken Dolbear) |
Moths
Portland Ribbon Wave
Four-spotted
Chalk Carpet
Beautiful Gothic
Valerian Pug
Birds:
Whitethroat
Lesser Whitethroat
Meadow Pipit
Kestrel
Green Woodpecker
This being Portland, you never know which migrant birds might turn up!
Look out also for Roe Deer and the herd of feral goats that help to graze the cliffs on Portland which sometimes wander onto this reserve.
Access:
Grid reference SY 697 720 Landranger map 194
Take the main road (A354) to Portland, and follow the signs to Easton. Turn left onto Grove Road as you enter Easton. The reserve entrance is down the quarry track (beware of lorries) about 1/4 km along the Grove, on the south side beyond the recreation ground. There is car parking at SY695723 west of the reserve entrance.
Please do not cross the fenceline and approach the edge of the working quarry.
PERRYFIELDS RESERVE, Portland
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Perryfields - Hippocrepis (J Davis) |
1.2 hectares (c. 3 acres) of infilled quarry with a limestone cap, leased as a reserve since 1998, and part of the Bottom Coombe Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) complex.
The limestone grassland provides rich array of wildflowers (eg. Birds-foot Trefoil, Horseshoe Vetch and Kidney Vetch) for butterflies and suitable conditions for other insects such as the Grey Bush-cricket. The sheltering copse of sycamore and ash trees and the scrub-covered slopes down to the disused railway track provide roosting places for insects and shelter for birds, particularly tired migrants arriving on Portland. The sheltered tall grass is one of best sites on the island for glow worms.
Management is carried out to stop the scrub encroaching onto the grassland, particularly non-native plants like Cotoneaster horizontalis which poses a serious problem.
Species to look out for:
Butterflies Chalkhill Blue – July |
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| Small Blues (Ken Dolbear) |
Moths
Dayflying moths like the nationally threatened Four-spotted, the Six-spot Burnet and Cinnabar.
Nightflying species include
Portland Ribbon Wave
Beautiful Gothic
and Valerian Pug
Birds
Warblers and other migrants in the bushes and trees in spring and autumn
Green Woodpecker
Raven, Peregrine Falcon and Kestrel passing
Access:
Grid Reference: SY 695 713 Ordnance Survey Landranger Map: 194
The reserve lies above the Museum car-park, on western side of Pennsylvania Road, Easton, on the Isle of Portland. Take the A354 onto Portland and through Easton. Continue along Wakeham to its end, - the public car park is on the right hand side of the road opposite Pennsylvania Castle. Walk up the steps onto the reserve.
LANKHAM BOTTOM, near Cattistock, central Dorset
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Lankham Bottom (J Davis) |
Lankham Bottom is a beautiful downland coombe on the west of the chalk ridge six miles north of Dorchester, with sweeping views over Cattistock towards Eggardon Hill and the coast. It is leased to Butterfly Conservation by Wessex Water who have a pumping station and boreholes here, and is managed with a small suckler herd of cattle with calves.
The grassland has been protected from agricultural improvement, so the chalk sward is flower rich and very varied, and supports over 30 species of butterflies. Several years of light grazing have brought about a considerable improvement in the floral richness of the grassland and with it an increase in the numbers of certain butterfly species, notably the threatened Marsh Fritillary. As on many downland sites, the main management targets here involve reducing and containing the blocks of gorse and other scrub, and controlling unwanted weed species like Ragwort and Creeping Thistle.
Species to look out for:
Butterflies
Chalkhill Blue – July
Brown Argus – May/June and July/August
Marsh Fritillary – May/June
Adonis Blue - May and Aug/Sept
Grizzled and Dingy Skippers – May/June
Moths
Wood Tiger – a dayflier in June/July
Cistus Forester – dayflier June/July
Regular moth trapping sessions in the summer have produced a good total of species
Characteristic of chalk downland.
Birds
Breeding birds include
Stonechat
Meadow Pipit
Yellowhammer
Linnet
Lesser Whitethroat
Willow Warbler
Look out for Kestrel, Hobby and Raven too.
Access:
Grid Reference: ST 606004. Ordnance Survey Landranger 194 or Explorer 117
The reserve entrance is off the minor road from Cattistock to the A37 about ½ mile west of the A37 Stagg’s Folly Junction. Access is through the metal gate but please do not block the track to the pumping station.
The reserve is designated Open Countryside – with public access on foot permitted at all times. The bridleway crossing the site is shown on OS maps.
Please follow the Countryside Code and keep dogs under control and on leads near to the grazing animals.
Educational Access: to find out about opportunities for schools and other groups to visit this reserve, please contact Butterfly Conservation on 01929.400209.
Guided walks and Conservation Action Days To find out more, refer to the Events Section of the Butterfly Conservation website.