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Wildlife of Hilsea Lines

Introduction
The site of Hilsea Lines has become the most varied wildlife haven on Portsea Island. It contains woodland, hedgerows, meadows, both fresh and brackish water areas, marshland and coastal habitats all within 80 hectares. Below is only a small selection of the wildlife that can be found here.

Kestrel
Size :  330-360mm
Equally happy in town and country, they will nest in a variety of locations from pylons to cliffs. Often seen hovering over grassland hunting its usual prey of voles and mice.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly
Size :  50mm wingspan
Hibernates during the winter in cool buildings and starts to become active again in mid-March. They lay eggs in May that lead to a generation of new butterflies in June and July.

Lords and Ladies (Cuckoo Pint)
Size :  350mm in height
A spring flowering plant of woods and shady hedge banks. They are
pollinated by insects attracted by its smell of rotting meat. The insects are trapped at the base of the flower until pollination is complete.

Stag Beetle
Size :  25-50mm
This is the largest of the British beetles, though the female does not
have the large ‘antlers’. Their eggs are laid in rotting tree stumps and fence posts where the larvae feed on decaying wood and take 3 years to mature. It is thought that the adult beetle never feeds.

Smooth Newt
Size :  95mm
These amphibians spend much of their lives on land but must return to freshwater to breed and lay eggs in spring. The male is more brightly coloured than the dull brown female. Newt tadpoles hatch in early summer and grow until autumn when they are ready to leave the water.

Common Walnut Tree
Size :  up to 30m
Has leaves with 5-7 leaflets, round fruits and smooth grey bark. They are not native to Britain but were originally planted in this area by the military where they were intended to be used for rifle stocks and butts.

Bee Orchid  
Size :  250mm in height
Flowers have the appearance of a bumble bee. Mainly found on well drained grassland. They take up to 10 years to mature and flower only once then die.

Dunlin
Size :  180mm
Winter visitor to Southern England. Adapted to life on mud flats with
their long legs and beaks suited to probing the mud for food.
        
Kingfisher
Size : 150mm
The most brightly coloured British bird. They perch above the water and quickly dive to catch fish, which they beat on a branch before swallowing head first.

Garden Tiger Moth
Size :  75mm wingspan
These colourful moths have a range of defensive actions including flashing their bright hind wings to startle birds, making a grating noise by rubbing its wings together and even exuding a yellow blood from its thorax.

Field Vole
Size :  75mm
Lives in grassland, woods and hedgerows. They are active day and night and feed mainly on grass. Voles are prey to many creatures including kestrels, owls, stoats and weasels.

Emperor Dragonfly
Size :  100mm wingspan
The largest British dragonfly. They feed on other flying insects which they catch on the wing. Eggs are laid on plants just below the surface of the freshwater. After hatching, the larvae live for 2 years in the water. They are voracious feeders eating other small insects and even small fish.

Yellow Flag
Size :  1000mm in height
Grows in lake edges, marshland and swampy woodland and flowers in early summer.

Associated documents:

• Hilsea Lines Wildlife Leaflet  (0.96 MB)

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