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:
11 Oct: We walked with from Southwater Country Park along the Downslink path as far as Christ's Hospital school, then back. Not cold but little sunshine. We were on the old bridge over what was the west end of Southwater Station (it's wide as it carries a now closed section of the old main road and has useful nectaring sources on it) when Val spotted a Small White and our daughter a Comma. We didn't see any other butterflies on the walk or in the Country Park. At home I found a dead moth which Google lens says is most likely a Chamomile Shark. It could be - the Atlas of Britain and Ireland's Larger Moths shows they peak in spring and early summer, but there looks to be a tiny entry for October. What's more we had a very healthy self seaded chamomile plant in a pot near where I found the corpse.
11 Oct: Clouded Yellows seen in an area at top of beach with Valerian and purple toadflax plants. About 4 at a time in last 3 weeks. Surprised to see them today. Finally got a photo of wings, as they are quite fast. I am 79 years old and have never seen one before….
11 Oct: 2 (maybe 3) Long-tailed Blues, one was tatty so definitely two individuals. Both seen along South Downs way path. Many Clouded Yellows (two helice form) Small Copper, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small White, and Wall Brown also seen.
10 Oct: First trip to Mill Hill nature reserve at Shoreham by sea this year turned out to be full of surprises. We arrived from London at about midday to a fresh 20 mph breeze and intermittent cloud so we headed down to the bottom of the slope looking for some more sheltered areas which we found. First sightings were numerous Small Whites , alongside equal numbers of Clouded Yellows. Common Blues were also in numbers M and F. The interesting species turning up were 2 Green-veined Whites, 1 female Brimstone,1 Wall Brown, and a possible 2nd brood ,fresh looking Meadow Brown! Full list 20 + Clouded Yellows,25 Small Whites,2 GV whites,1 Brimstone (f),20 Common Blues,1 Meadow Brown,1 Wall Brown,3 Speckled Wood,1 Red Admiral, and finally 1 HH moth!
10 Oct: A wander around the hills, primarily after Clouded Yellow. They didn't disappoint! Also present were a few Common Blue, some fresh Small Copper, some battered old Small White (no mannii amongst them) and some some Speckled Wood. I wouldn't have been surprised to have come across a couple of battered old Adonis Blue either, I wasn't expecting to find a couple of freshly minted ones though, one of each sex!
09 Oct: We were on our way to our local West Worthing shops when the sun came out and it suddenly warmed up a lot. Almost immediately I spotted a Red Admiral on some yellow flowers, but it flew off before I could get a picture. On the way back, near the same spot, we could see a Speckled Wood - too distant for a picture. It stayed quite warm for a bit but then clouded over and eventually rained slightly. I was wondering whether Martin had produced two late "first sightings" which I would need to add to the article I've already finished for the 2026 Magazine, but Neil's pronouncements have knocked that on the head. I have had a good look at my book with pictures of the Clouded Yellow species. They don't look too hard to tell apart if you can get pictures of them with their "wings open" which of course they never are, unless flying. So that prompts me to try harder to get phone videos of any apparent "helice" variants I see in the future. Then I can freeze frame them and take screen shots of the open wings to see if by chance I've got a Pale Clouded Yellow instead.
09 Oct: Martin's 'possible Pale Clouded Yellow' is definitely the helice form of Clouded Yellow, although these can be highly variable in appearance. The black border to the forewing is far too extensive, and remains broad too far down the margin to raise any suspicions of anything more exciting. The 'Southern Small White' image shows none of the attributes of this species, and I don't see anything that suggests it's anything other than a typical Small White. The apical patches aren't dark enough, they don't extend far enough down the forewing margin, and the discal spot is the wrong shape, lacking the concave (or at worst dead straight) outer edge. To put the rarity of these two species into context, I've personally only seen definitive images of two PCYs (although one was possibly Berger's) in the UK this century, and just a single Southern Small White. It is, of course, highly likely that more of each species have entered the country, unseen, unrecognised or unreported, but the burden of proof is high.
08 Oct: I delayed my trip to the Amberley Downs until the afternoon, as it was too cold in the morning. I did have a Red Admiral in the garden at 10.30am, when it was only 10 degrees, but this was an accidental disturbance. I didn't see any Queen of Spain, but I did see 23 Clouded Yellows, 8 Small Whites, 2 Small Coppers, 1 Speckled Wood and 1 male Common Blue. Two of the Clouded Yellows were egg-laying on Birdsfoot Trefoil. I saw two helice Clouded yellows and another one that could have been a Pale Clouded Yellow. There was a very dark, dusky Small White that looked very different from any Small White that I have seen before. As I shouldn't mark my own homework I will call it a female Southern Small White (and see what response I get). I am being a little bit mischievous (in these outrageous claims), but not entirely so. Judge for yourselves. PS I rather like image 2. This Clouded Yellow isn't laying an egg in this photograph but it did shortly, after. In the photograph we can see the leaves of Common Rock-rose, Hedge Bedstraw and Birdsfoot Trefoil. The richness of chalk turf means we could have the larvae of Brown Argus, Humming-bird Hawk-moth, Common Blue, Dingy Skipper and Clouded Yellow, all munching away, just inches from each other.
Click here for more sightings.
Our branch is organising many butterfly walks in the summer across the county.
Our next events are:
22 Nov: Sussex BC Members Day 2026
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 Oct: Branch MEMBERS DAY update
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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