Arreton Down update
14 September 2009
The Trust is endeavouring to renew the steps on the right of way down the edge of the large chalk pit. It is still possible to use the Right of Way, and the contrast between the old and new steps are quite obvious. The lower flight should be competed next year, once the weather is settled and there is less chance of disturbance to the local inhabitants.
This August - September, for the first time in at least nine years, Adonis Blue butterflies have been seen in good numbers along the warm sheltered lower slopes of the down. It seems that with good spring weather a small local colony may have been able to recolonise its former habitat range that may have been unfavourable until the Trust began its management regime.
As Summer turns to Autumn many flowers are fading but definitely not finished, and with care it is possible to find the delicate white flower of Autumn Ladies' Tresses; this small Grey-blue-green spike (7-20cm) starts to appear in August into September. This diminutive member of the Orchid family produces tiny white flowers which spiral the stem. Another plant flowering at this time of the year worth searching out is the Autumn Gentian, again a small plant (5-30cm tall), with pointed alternate opposite leaves, several individual flower heads branching out from the main stem, each flower producing a purple corolla tube with four or five petal-like lobes.
A variety of bird species visit in late summer, including several different types of warbler, foraging for insects in preparation for the long channel crossing. The scrub edge of the grassland provides an excellent service station for them, as it shelters many insects and provides ideal accommodation for birds like spotted fly catchers which perch on a branch to watch for passing insects, then dart out to catch them, returning to their look-out to try again. The white rumps of wheatears are in evidence on the open downland at the moment as they fly low over the ground, gathering to feed up in preparation for their migration to Africa.
