Grayling, wall brown and chalkhill blue at Brean Down

[eccles]

I visited Brean Down today looking for grayling and wall brown, and found them both. Also there were good numbers of chalkhill blue plus a solitary dark green fritillary.

Brean Down is an impressive outcrop of limestone into the Severn Estuary south of Weston Super Mare. Access is from Brean and although owned by the National Trust, access is free. To park your car will cost you a small sum though. The official car park is £1.50 for the day, but so is the car park at the Tropical Bird Gardens and it's a bit closer, and if you visit the bird garden or buy tea and cakes in the cafe they'll offset the parking fee against your purchases.

If you climb to the Down via the single track road, at the top you can head inland or out. Inland is where I found the wall browns, catching late morning sunshine on rocky outcrops. Sadly, their wings were kept firmly closed, and they were gone by 3pm when I got back there.

Heading towards the outward end, and past the high point obilisk is where I started to see one or two graylings. There are cattle grazing along the Down and the graylings seemed to find their droppings to their taste. Towards the end of the Down on the slope towards the old fort is where there were more graylings and also very good numbers of chalkhill blues.

Recommended.