Re: Sussex Kipper
Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 7:45 am
Heyshott Down
On Tuesday (4th May) I visited the stunningly beautiful Heyshott Down (near Midhurst), meeting John Murray of the Murray Downland Trust, and BC Sussex friends Colin Knight and Roger Martin. The MDT are doing a fantastic job in managing this site for Duke of Burgundy - although many other interesting species also live on these long-abandoned chalk workings.
In order to assess the effectiveness of ongoing habitat management, it is essential to accurately record how the population is reacting. As it has become increasingly difficult for me to 'look after' all of the 'Duke' sites across West Sussex, the assistance offered by Colin and Roger, in regularly surveying Heyshott, is much appreciated. We walked the escapment and designed a survey route and method to hopefully gain an accurate picture of the increasing butterfly numbers. This is not a strictly defined Transect as such, which is a method that fails to adequately assess 'Duke' numbers in particular (being a 'successional' species, it shifts between different areas over time), but more of a 'single species timed count'. We want to see those graphs and histograms moving one way only!
The cold northerly winds and grey skies scuppered our hopes of seeing Duke of Burgundy on the day, but short periods of sunshine eventually moved the odd Grizzled and Dingy Skipper.
On Tuesday (4th May) I visited the stunningly beautiful Heyshott Down (near Midhurst), meeting John Murray of the Murray Downland Trust, and BC Sussex friends Colin Knight and Roger Martin. The MDT are doing a fantastic job in managing this site for Duke of Burgundy - although many other interesting species also live on these long-abandoned chalk workings.
In order to assess the effectiveness of ongoing habitat management, it is essential to accurately record how the population is reacting. As it has become increasingly difficult for me to 'look after' all of the 'Duke' sites across West Sussex, the assistance offered by Colin and Roger, in regularly surveying Heyshott, is much appreciated. We walked the escapment and designed a survey route and method to hopefully gain an accurate picture of the increasing butterfly numbers. This is not a strictly defined Transect as such, which is a method that fails to adequately assess 'Duke' numbers in particular (being a 'successional' species, it shifts between different areas over time), but more of a 'single species timed count'. We want to see those graphs and histograms moving one way only!
The cold northerly winds and grey skies scuppered our hopes of seeing Duke of Burgundy on the day, but short periods of sunshine eventually moved the odd Grizzled and Dingy Skipper.