Butterfly Conservation is a registered charity dedicated to the conservation of butterflies and moths. You can find out more about the national organisation here.
Members' Day is on Sunday 22 November at 11:30 at the Adastra Hall in Hassocks ///furnish.bordering.suppose.
Our Chair Dave Brown will start with an introduction to the AGM followed by talks from Gareth Tilley with his "Shining a New Light on Butterflies". Ash Walmsley will talk about the history, ecology and conservation of Ashdown Forest. There will also be an update on the Wood White Project.
For more information click 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:
17 Oct: Despite the cold NE wind this afternoon at Thorney Island we still managed to see four species of butterfly. Clouded Yellow 24, Red Admiral 8, Speckled Wood 2 and a Small White.
17 Oct: A gentle stroll over the Amberley Downs, savouring what Sussex has to offer, even this late in the season. No rarities but happy enough with what I saw: 25 Clouded Yellows, 4 Small Whites, 1 male Common Blue, 1 Small Copper and 1 mystery moth! The steep slopes of the Amberley Downs makes photography a little tricky, but sometimes works in our favour as we can achieve different types of photos. Unusually, for me, I was able to identify this moth (as I had other images to check), but the members might like to have a guess (without the help of AI). As a dynamic photo, nectaring on Devilsbit Scabious, and seen side-ways on, I rather like it. As I have never photographed a mating pair of Clouded Yellows, I rather liked that, too.
17 Oct: A walk north of the A27 from east Sompting to Lyons Farm was in glorious sunshine and felt too warm to wear a jacket. Most of the butterflies were in the Queen of Spain field, but there was even a Humming-bird Hawk-moth inside Sainsbury! 24 Red Admiral, 21 Clouded Yellow, 9 Holly Blue, 5 Small White, 4 Humming-bird Hawk-moth, 3 Common Blue, 2 Small Copper, 2 Speckled Wood, Silver Y. A fresh-looking Volucella zonaria was a surprise to me this late in the season.
17 Oct: The butterfly season continues. A walk round Shoreham and onto the beach turned up a Red Admiral, Small White and 5 Clouded Yellows. The latter were all on the beach and included a' flock' of four! Not sure of the collective noun for a group of Clouded Yellows. Is there such a thing?
17 Oct: The season continues into the third week of October along Eastbourne seafront, so a couple of hours were well spent in the company of the many (20+) Clouded Yellows including two helice form females. Several pairs of yellows were witnessed attempting cop', which is also encouraging. Also seen were a fresh looking Red Admiral, a Common Blue female, a single Small Copper and numerous Small Whites, plus three Painted Ladies.
16 Oct: A walk up the River Adur's west bank to the footbridge and back down the east bank to Shoreham produced one Small White near our starting point and a Red Admiral + a Clouded Yellow near the bridge on the east. I disturbed the Red Admiral trying to get close it and luckily also disturbed the Clouded Yellow hidden nearby.
15 Oct: Hummingbird Hawk moth in my garden. Unfortunately I don't have flowers suitable so I need to resolve that!
15 Oct: A few sightings in the garden over the last few days. 8th Clouded Yellow and Small Copper, 11th Clouded Yellow and Small Copper, 13th Clouded Yellow, 14th Clouded Yellow and today 15th Speckled Wood. We have also had hummingbird hawk moths every single day.
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 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
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.
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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