Volunteers helped the RSPB add the final piece of an exciting conservation jigsaw this week sowing 2000 grams of chalk grassland flower seed attractive to chalk grassland butterflies on our latest butterfly bank. This chalk embankment excavated thanks to funding from the Biffa Award "Saving a place for Wiltshire's Endangered Butterflies at RSPB Winterbourne Downs" project, has been designer made for butterflies with a long south-facing slope and two curled ends to give shelter and provide sunny slopes throughout the day.
Twenty one wildflower species, including horseshoe vetch, kidney vetch, devil’s-bit scabious, common rock rose, dropwort, saw-wort, carline thistle and wild thyme, have been sown to attract scarce chalk grassland butterflies such as the marsh fritillary, adonis blue, chalkhill blue, small blue, grizzled skipper, and the brown argus.
Early in the spring, volunteers helped plant hairy dog’s-violet across the reserve to help attract the dark-green fritillary to the reserve from nearby Porton Down, and during the summer volunteers made several forays with RSPB staff to hand collect seed from difficult species contributing to almost a quarter of that sown.
The Biffa Award has greatly added to RSPB chalk grassland creation project at the reserve by bringing diversity to the landscape with this additional flower-rich butterfly bank, a new 600m species rich hedgerow which will benefit the brown hairstreak butterfly, and improvements in the grassland management facilitated by a new cattle handling facility.