Arreton Down Wildlife Reserve

The Arreton Down Wildlife Reserve holds a huge variety of wildflowers and the best areas on Arreton have around 30 species per square metre so the downland is good eating for sure when it's grazed through the winter by their own herd of gardening cattle!

The scrub edges of the downland is a cherished habitat for nesting birds and provides a private corridor for Red squirrels to run through to forage plus the landscape is liberally sprinkled with butterflies seasonally, including the Common blue, Brown Argus, Gatekeeper, Small Heath, Large, Small, Dingy and Grizzled skipper, Green hair streak, Marbled white, occasional Clouded yellow with a spectacular emergence of Chalkhill blues in August! A better place for mini beast safaris is frankly hard to find.