Butterfly Conservation is a registered charity dedicated to the conservation of butterflies and moths. You can find out more about the national organisation here.
Details coming soon!
The SxBC photo competition is back!
We're inviting photographers to submit their best Sussex butterfly photographs to our annual competition. Whether it's a rare species in flight or a perfect close-up of delicate wing patterns, we want to see it.
The results will be announced at the Members Day held on Sunday the 22nd November. For more information click here.
To see the 2025 winning entries click here.
Our branch is organising many butterfly walks in the summer across the county.
Our next events are:
22 Nov: Members Day 2026 - More details to come later.
Information on all our walks and other events can be viewed here.
Anyone can post photos of butterflies they have seen in Sussex. Recent sightings include:
15 Sep: Long-tailed Blue report. Day 9: No sightings were made yesterday suggesting all previous individuals had left the garden, and Sunday’s Female 5 had continued her journey onward through Sussex. Today, at 15.20 Female 6 was seen in a slightly worse condition than Female 5, and signifying another continental arrival. Again, she was in egg laying mode, but with limited hope of conducting a count because eggs had been placed within the developing bud cluster of BLEP. For confirmation that Female 5 and 6 are different individuals, the under wing image has been rotated to match the orientation of Female 5, previously posted. With 4 continental arrivals to the garden over the last 7 days, should we be thinking in terms of say 100 or more individuals making landfall in Sussex during this period?
15 Sep: Once the sun came out this afternoon, a few butterflies started showing at Warnham NR: Common Blue (3), Small White (2), Clouded Yellow (1) and a female Brown Hairstreak. Regards, Colin
15 Sep: A fresh male Long-tailed Blue briefly visited my garden today, stopping on Japanese Anemone. I looked elsewhere locally, but no others seen. Also 19 Wall, 14 Clouded Yellow, 11 Common Blue, 4 Speckled Wood, Brown Hairstreak, Painted Lady, Small Heath, Humming-bird Hawk-moth, a few Small White.
15 Sep: At the County Cricket ground in Hove we saw a Red Admiral and a Small White, but then it rained. As we drove back to West Worthing the sun came out, so we visited the grassy areas near the west end of the seafront between George V Avenue and Wallace Avenue. About 10 Clouded Yellows and a female Common Blue were roaming around and nectaring on yellow flowers in the mown grass. By the longer grass there was a Small Copper and 3 male Common Blues. The Clouded Yellows were too active to get close to. We had a nice surprise when we got home - 2 Speckled Woods and several Small Whites.
15 Sep: Despite the Grey skies, wind and threatening drizzle there was a lot of butterfly action on my walk from High and Over along The Comp and back along Greenway Bottom. The key factor was that it was warm. 8 species were recorded and I don't think I've ever seen so many Speckled Wood on a walk before. Final counts were: Speckled Wood (50+), Wall (20+), Small White (7), Red Admiral (3), Small Heath (3), Common Blue (5), Painted Lady (2) and Adonis Blue (1).
15 Sep: Clouded Yellow butterfly was into the gardens fronting the beach.
15 Sep: Thought i would submit this report thinking it might be a location not commonly covered. During late morning cloud and drizzle it was warm enough for a few Small Heath to be flying. When the sun came out early afternoon the numbers exploded. Had i done a proper count there would have been over 100. Clouded Yellows also appeared from the grass. At least 30 =40. Also 10 Speckled Wood, 3 Small Copper and a Common Blue
14 Sep: Great day for butterflies in the garden. Mostly cloudy with odd bursts of sunshine. Speckled Wood Brown Argus x3 Brown Hairstreak Brimstone Painted Lady x2 Common Blue x4 Small Copper x3 Large White Small White x3 Clouded Yellow Wall x3
Click here for more sightings.
Photo by Graham Hubbard
New colonies of Wood White were recently discovered in West Sussex and our branch is planning to learn more about this rare butterfly.
We are organising a coordinated survey and are looking for volunteers. For more information on the Wood White Project in Sussex click here.
Photo by Graham Hubbard
Throughout the year we receive interesting sightings records. We have started an exercise to identify notable sightings and look for patterns during a month with a little help from an AI assistant.
To read more click here.
07 Aug: Annual Cotoneaster bashing on the Buckle by-pass (A259), Seaford
30 Jun: Martin Kalaher's Open Garden Sunday 12th July.
24 Jun: Scotney Castle - More opportunity to explore
27 Mar: Butterfly Recording Training at National Trust Woolbeding
22 Mar: 2026 walks now appear on the Events Page
28 Feb: Liz Williams Butterfly Haven work day
16 Jan: A summary of Sussex BC work parties in 2026
23 Oct: SxBC Members' Day - Saturday 22nd November 2025 1.30pm – 4.30pm. Latest Update
White Admiral, photo by Maurilio Tesa
Martin Kalaher has written a very interesting article titled 'Partial broods in 2025' to read the article click here.
Last month Martin published 'Second brood Dingy Skippers'. To read that article click here.
Photo from our 2025 competition.
Sussex is one of the best counties in the UK to see a wide range of interesting butterfly species.
More information on species can be viewed here.
There are many important sites for butterflies in our county.
Information on some of them can be viewed here.
The 2025 edition of our magazine has just landed! Members should receive a paper copy in mid November. A digital version can be viewed here.
Orange-tip by Gary Faulkner
The results of the 2025 SxBC photo competition were announced at the recent Members' Day.
To see the winning entries click here.
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