Butterfly Conservation is a registered charity dedicated to the conservation of butterflies and moths. You can find out more about the national organisation here.
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:
07 Aug: An Introduction to Castle Hill NNR its butterfly and plant species with Graham Hubbard.
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:
05 Aug: On the zigzag path at Pulborough Brooks, along with with several 'normal' Clouded Yellows, there was a very distinctive f.helice form. It was frequently dipping between the Fleabane and along the path margin until driven off by a Small White.
05 Aug: flew into my house from the wildflower garden
04 Aug: I popped to Rowland Wood yesterday and was amazed at the amount of Clouded Yellows. I didn't get a chance to walk far as there was so much going on in the first meadow by the car park. Quite a few Helice spotted plus Common Blues, Painted Ladies, Small Heath, Large Whites, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and a few hummingbird hawk moths.
04 Aug: Val and I have been in the Costa Brava for a week with family. Spanish seaside holidays in the searing heat of high summer are not great for casual butterfly sightings. We did see 8 different species and found a fold out colour guide to the butterflies of Catalonia with lots of information including the English butterfly names - good value at 6 euros. We only noticed one White in a week, whereas back here today we saw at least half a dozen including a Small White in our back garden. Also greeting us on our returned were a Painted Lady (we saw 4 or 5 in Spain) and, when I went to the shops, a Gatekeeper. (Gatekeeper spotting in Catalonia appears to be a bit trickier as there are 2 other Gatekeeper species but we saw none.)
04 Aug: I didn't notice Bee-wolves while we were in the Amberley Bottoms, Martin, but know the species well - and love it. I do my local Bee-wolf watching at Brooklands Park, on Worthing seafront, where a very large population nests in the sand from the old pitch and putt course. They regularly bring in domestic bees from the local hives, but getting the 'killer shot' is tricky. This image shows the fearsome business-end.
04 Aug: For several weeks I have been working on a new area of lawn, for chalk-loving plants. Over the past two days I have planted another 30 plugs of Common Rock-rose and Horseshoe Vetch. It's a memorial garden and I am wholly committed to the project, but in time I will have to decide whether this patch of garden is included in my "no watering" policy. This summer has been very tough, but as my wildlife garden is one big experiment, I will not corrupt the outcome, by any interference. We have to accept that hot, dry summers are probably going to be the future (but let's not forget the awful cold, wet summers of 2023 and 2024!). Anyway, as my new camera has been parked for several days, I thought I would spend 20 minutes seeing what was about. Well, not a lot. I did manage a female Common Blue and a female European Bee-wolf. The females are very easy to identify, in flight. I saw several on Saturday at Stoke Bottom (Neil did you see these on your survey, yesterday?). Bee-wolfs kill Honeybees, but in my garden I think they might possibly also go after Common Wasps and Common Carder Bees (that's conjecture, at this stage). They are fearsome beasts.
04 Aug: Yesterday (3 August), I met up with a small group of our conservation work party volunteers to enjoy the fantastic fauna and flora of Stoke and Medley Bottoms, while at the same time performing a survey for the landowner, Nyetimber. Many thanks to Paul, Tom, Gary, Jason and Patrick for assisting with the count; a daunting challenge when the hillsides are a constantly moving cascade of butterflies. We counted 3588 individual butterflies of 24 species, with the following being a composite total for both Bottoms, although some species were more abundant in one than the other, reflecting different levels of humidity and sward conditions. Chalk Hill Blue (862), Adonis Blue (590), Common Blue (554), Brown Argus (49), Small Blue (25), Holly Blue (1), Dingy Skipper (20), Silver-spotted Skipper (4), Small Skipper (2), Brown Hairstreak (1), Small Copper (15), Meadow Brown (742), Small Heath (298), Gatekeeper (27), Speckled Wood (1), Clouded Yellow (59), Brimstone (2), Large White (29), Small White (117), Green-veined White (4), Painted Lady (179), Peacock (3), Red Admiral (3) and Dark Green Fritillary (1). Moths included Humming-bird Hawk-moth (24), Six-belted Clearwing (4, to Gary's lure), Sulphur Pearl (3), Silver-Y (10) and singles of Vestal, Chalk Carpet, Blood-vein, Oak Eggar, Straw-barred Pearl, Wavy-barred Sable, Common Purple and Gold, and Common Knapweed Tortrix. Patrick and then Paul were the last survivors, as lack of water after such a long day in the heat caused our numbers to dwindle (they departed, rather than expired) - we ended up drinking from a cattle trough (using a safe method I should stress - we are all still alive - do not try this at home)! Paul and I finished the day counting the awesome Hornet Robberfly, with these Bottoms supporting the largest colony in the UK. We recorded 46 of these wonderful beasts, finding a mating pair and several with prey. Earlier in the day, we were all treated to close-up views of a lovely Barn Owl. The flora is astonishingly beautiful, and on many occasions we stopped to feast our eyes on the extensive carpets of wildflowers. I work closely with Nyetimber's Sarah George to get the grazing just right here, with the main animals being Belted Galloway cattle. This year, we have achieved near-perfection. Congratulations, Nyetimber, this is now the best chalk grassland habitat in West Sussex.
03 Aug: A Jersey Tiger Moth flew into my house tonight
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.
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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