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.
We have a busy programme of working parties all over the county starting in October into March. This has been a wonderful summer for butterflies and with your help we can make 2027 even better.
Information about all the sessions can be found here.
Anyone can post photos of butterflies they have seen in Sussex. Recent sightings include:
06 Oct: What could be better in early October than a fresh, pristine Painted Lady. Herstmonceux Castle, 5/6th October.
06 Oct: A walk between my garden and the footpath through Applesham Farm was warm and occasionally sunny. 20 Clouded Yellow (2 helice), 12 Small White, Painted Lady (very fresh), Wall, Small Copper, Speckled Wood, Humming-bird Hawk-moth. Yesterday a fresh Long-tailed Blue in my garden and a third brood Holly Blue.
06 Oct: It warmed up nicely today while we were out and about mostly in Goring. Frustratingly we didn't see a single butterfly despite there being plenty of good nectar sources around. The weather is due to turn wetter and colder overnight. Looks like the butterfly season, locally at least, is about to end.
06 Oct: A GENTLE REMINDER THAT THE DEADLINE FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION IS OCTOBER 24TH. YOUR ENTRIES CAN BE PHOTOS THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY SENT TO THE WEBSITE. IF YOU HAVE TAKEN A PHOTOGRAPH THIS YEAR, IT IS ADMISSIBLE. I AM CURRENTLY PREPARING/WRITING THE ANNUAL REPORT (I KNOW IT IS ONLY OCTOBER BUT IT'S A LONG PROCESS), AND AS I LOOK THROUGH EVERY SINGLE POST FOR THIS YEAR, I CAN SEE THERE ARE 50+ OUTSTANDING IMAGES. I WOULD LIKE ALL THOSE MEMBERS WHO HAVE SENT IN YOUR WONDERFUL PHOTOS (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) TO FORMALLY SEND THEM TO ROY. IF THIS YEAR'S COMPETITION IS TO BE MEANINGFUL WE NEED YOUR ENTRIES. AS MY GRANDCHILDREN MIGHT SAY, "LET'S DO IT"!
05 Oct: JC and myself went back to Stoke Bottom and Medley Bottom, for 3-4 hours, but the sun refused to break through until we were heading back to our cars! It just wasn't the weather to see butterflies. A couple of orange brown butterflies flew past, and went to ground, and defied identification. I disturbed a Clouded Yellow that eventually settled for a photograph. Otherwise a Small White feeding on Rough Hawkbit and a female Wall Brown (my first on the Amberley Downs this year). The highlight was the repeated calls of a couple of Red Kites. They were very noisy! My garden Michaelmas Daisies have yet attract to any butterflies but there have been several hoverfly and bee species. The hoverfly shown is a male Sphaerophoria species. It is a male as we can see the genital capsule (the bulge at the end of the abdomen). It is not often that we can see this feature, quite so clearly. The Clouded Yellow count in my garden stands at 64, for the season. Amazing numbers.
05 Oct: Going to and from my flu jab took me along the sea front and on the way back enabled me to have a nice chat with Dave Broxham who lives on the Goring side of George V Avenue. In the end we saw much the same. My count was 1 Red Admiral behind the Sailing Club, 3 Clouded Yellows on the shingle, 2 Small Coppers between George V and Wallace Avenues, and 2 Small Whites in the Lansdowne Road area. It is noticeable that the number of Small Whites has greatly diminished in the last 5 days and no butterflies at all flitted through my garden at lunch time.
05 Oct: Single Clouded Yellow and Small Copper enjoying the sunshine here this afternoon. 10 days earlier, on 26th Sept, there had also been a single Clouded Yellow here.
05 Oct: The most surprising sighting in the Greenway Bank area of the Downs behind Seaford yesterday was a female Brown Hairstreak; this is remarkable, given that my first 2026 sighting of this species was way back on 29 June - a flight season of more than three months. Typically, for very warm and sunny days at this time of year, a couple of Brimstone were roused from their slumber to stock up on reserves, as aestivation transitions to hibernation. Small Coppers were enjoying the last of the summer wine, although the numbers of most species are now dropping off rapidly. That doesn't, of course, apply to the Clouded Yellow, which is still flying in remarkable numbers. In celebration of this winner of my 'Butterfly of the Year' award, I've appended an image taken here a few weeks back.
Click here for more sightings.
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.
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.
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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