Butterfly Conservation Kent & SE London Branch

Butterfly Conservation Kent & SE London Branch The Kent & SE London Branch of Butterfly Conservation, preserving butterflies, moths and our environment. New members and volunteers are very welcome!

Butterfly Conservation (Kent and SE London) Members' Day, Sat March 7th 2026  🦋🌞Butterfly Conservation (Kent and SE Lond...
08/02/2026

Butterfly Conservation (Kent and SE London) Members' Day, Sat March 7th 2026

 

 

🦋🌞Butterfly Conservation (Kent and SE London) will hold a Members' Day on Sat March 7th 2026 at Lenham Community Centre. The programme is due to start at 10 am and will finish around 3.00 pm. Do join us to meet like-minded conservationists, reflect on recent progress, plan future activities and generally chat about butterflies, moths and their habitats in our branch area.

 

⭐The programme will include presentations from a variety of speakers, for example covering recent conservation successes, focusing on topical species and opportunities for the year ahead. By your request, we will also include a selection of workshops, aimed to help us all hone our skills for the coming season; for example on the use of apps, UV torches and reading feeding signs. But most importantly, ample time is built-in for us to catch-up, meet and mingle with friends old, new and future - for which ample lunch and refreshments are provided.

We very much hope that spring will be thoroughly in the air by early March, and that the day represents an ideal lead-in to the 2026 season. For further details, to see the full agenda as we finalise it and to reserve your place, please visit the day's Eventbrite page.

 

📸Photo Competition: We'd love to be able to share and enjoy your photos of butterflies and moths, in all their glory at any life stages - so please bring (hardcopy prints) along! Attendees will have the opportunity to peruse them during intervals and vote for their favourites, with the winners included in forthcoming issues of The Adonis.

White Hill, Shoreham: Habitat ManagementVolunteering Days Looking for ways to warm up, and contribute to local conservat...
28/01/2026

White Hill, Shoreham: Habitat Management

Volunteering Days

 

Looking for ways to warm up, and contribute to local conservation efforts? Why not join one of our work parties at White Hill?🌱🪵🦋

There are a further 3 task days coming up in January and February at this remarkable site. We aim to make a restorative impact on the habitat this year, hence additional task days have been for that purpose which we are keen to fill. It would be fantastic get more branch volunteers lending a hand to this effort this year. The dates are:

📆Thu 29th January (Tomorrow!)

📆 Thu 12th February

📆 Thu 19th February

 

All days will involve cutting and raking the meadow areas, and extending them by pushing back encroaching scrub. Task days start at 10am and finish at approximately 3pm. All volunteers will need to bring a packed lunch (hot drinks, biscuits, and all tools needed are provided). We recommend that everyone wear sturdy boots, ideally with steel toe caps.

 

Volunteers park along Station Road https://maps.app.goo.gl/hDc34Vy8RuwGG4r68 and meet at the layby on Shoreham Road https://maps.app.goo.gl/qjmMnQwoVsotGTaB9.

 

If you plan to come, please contact North West Kent Countryside Project (NWKCP) task leader Nina Skinner on [email protected] or 07816 128553 to give her a good idea of numbers.

Looking for something to do in this funny period between Christmas 🎄 and the New Year? 🥳 It's a great time to upload any...
29/12/2025

Looking for something to do in this funny period between Christmas 🎄 and the New Year? 🥳

It's a great time to upload any outstanding records from 2025 to iRecord so we can build a much fuller picture of how various species have fared throughout Kent and SE London this year. All records are welcome, but in Kent certain species including the Large Tortoiseshell, Purple Emperor, Duke of Burgundy, White-Letter Hairstreak and Brown Hairstreak are all of particular interest due to their recent expansions in this county. 🦋

Of course, you are always welcome to contact us directly with any record queries on social media or through our website.

We wish you a happy new year, and I'm sure we are all counting down the days to the first butterflies and moths of the Spring! 🎆

🌿🍂 A successful Brown Hairstreak egg hunt took place on Monday at Leybourne Lakes, with 7 eggs being found across the si...
20/11/2025

🌿🍂 A successful Brown Hairstreak egg hunt took place on Monday at Leybourne Lakes, with 7 eggs being found across the site.

This means that they're now recorded only 1km away from the East Kent border!

There remains a lot of areas in West Kent where they must be under-recorded, and winter is the best time to be searching Blackthorn for their eggs (a good example in the photo above).

The following sites/ Areas are of interest alongside any of the surrounding area which may be suitable.

 

Trosley Country Park

Birling Estate

Mereworth

Knowle

Plaxtol Village

Ightham

Darenth Country Park

Jeskyns Country Park

Shorne Woods

South of Tonbridge/ Tunbridge Wells

Paddock Wood  

Westerham

Ide Hill

 🔎Happy hunting- and make sure to log any finds on iRecord!

📸 Photo Credits- 1. William Malpas, 2. Hannah Gilham (Leybourne Lakes), 3. Steven Loftin1km

🌿 Winter work parties at White Hill! 🌿Exciting news — the North West Kent Countryside Project (NWKCP), with support from...
29/10/2025

🌿 Winter work parties at White Hill! 🌿

Exciting news — the North West Kent Countryside Project (NWKCP), with support from Kent Downs National Landscape and Butterfly Conservation, are running six winter volunteer sessions this season to help keep White Hill’s meadows thriving.

📅 First dates coming up in November:

Wed 12th Nov

Wed 26th Nov

📍Location : Volunteers park along Station Road https://maps.app.goo.gl/hDc34Vy8RuwGG4r68 and meet at the layby on Shoreham Road https://maps.app.goo.gl/qjmMnQwoVsotGTaB9.

☎️If you plan to come, please contact NWKCP task leader Nina Skinner on [email protected] or 07816 128553 to give her a good idea of numbers.

These early sessions are a great chance to get stuck in and help open up some of the scrubbed-over meadow areas — your efforts will make a real difference! 💪

More dates will follow in January and February, but if you can make it this month, we’d love to see you there. Volunteers of all experience levels welcome — it’s fun, hands-on, and a perfect way to enjoy the outdoors this winter.

We've done very well so far in Kent with the Big Butterfly Count, but can we push to No.1 this weekend? The weather look...
25/07/2025

We've done very well so far in Kent with the Big Butterfly Count, but can we push to No.1 this weekend? The weather looks a bit more promising, and hopefully there'll be plenty of opportunities to get some counts in. Remember, you can do as many as you like, in fact, the more the better! 🌞🦋

UPDATE: CANCELLED DUE TO THUNDERSTORMS🦋✨Ileden Downs – 20th July, 10.30 amMeeting Place: Tadpole Tearooms Carpark, Frog ...
18/07/2025

UPDATE: CANCELLED DUE TO THUNDERSTORMS
🦋✨Ileden Downs – 20th July, 10.30 am
Meeting Place: Tadpole Tearooms Carpark, Frog Lane, Bishopsbourne
CT4 5HR

What3Words location: rear.sweetly.innocence

Timings: 10:30 am to 1 pm

Since 2010, the meadow restoration landscape of Barham Downs has been increasing in size and quality and this area now holds some of
the largest populations in Kent for our scarcer butterflies and moths.These beautiful meadows are incredible examples of how arable fields
can be restored for butterflies and moths and are well-worth a visit. This restoration area supports such large populations of Small Blue
Butterflies, that individuals have been taken from here as part of a Natural England project and used to help recolonise suitable habitat in other counties that this species has been lost from. Last July, the largest UK population of the Bright Wave, a moth previously thought tobe restricted to coastal habitat as a breeding species, was also
discovered here. We will be walking through the gently sloping meadow on this walk to record this year’s peak count of Bright Waves.
We will be meeting in the carpark for the Tadpole Tearooms at the start time, then carsharing between a few cars to reach the actual site, due
to limited onsite parking.
Contact: Dan Tuson at [email protected]

🌞🦋Today marks the start of the Big Butterfly Count 2025!✨There are three simple steps to getting involved with the hunt....
18/07/2025

🌞🦋Today marks the start of the Big Butterfly Count 2025!

✨There are three simple steps to getting involved with the hunt. All you have to do is sit in an outdoor area for 15 minutes and count how many butterflies you see- you can submit multiple counts during this period!

Choose a day during the butterfly count week to do it, between Friday 18th July and Sunday 10th August 2025.

1. Download the butterfly chart or free app for iOS and Android to identify and record the butterflies you spot

2. Use your ID chart to take note of the various butterflies you have found

3. Submit your sightings via the online tracking sheet

Even if you only spot a small handful of butterflies, the Butterfly Conservation is calling on people to take note of any sightings.

🦋🐛We look forward to seeing what you record!

🌞🦋🌿Heart’s Delight Farm – 13th July, 10.30 amMeeting Place Heart’s Delight Farm, Covet Lane, Kingston, CanterburyCT4 6JU...
09/07/2025

🌞🦋🌿Heart’s Delight Farm – 13th July, 10.30 am
Meeting Place Heart’s Delight Farm, Covet Lane, Kingston, Canterbury
CT4 6JU.

🚗Park in field at waxes.evolution.opposing (weather permitting).

✨Part of the Barham Downs grassland restoration project, Heart’s Delight Farm features good examples of species-rich wildflower
meadows, hopefully with healthy numbers of associated species. An opportunity to explore these along with other habitat management on
the farm, including other grassland and ancient woodland.

Attendance will be restricted, please contact the leader to reserve a space.
Contact: Roland Brown at roland.brown@butterfly-
conservation.goassemble.com

Join us at High Elms Country Park this weekend to try and spot Silver washed Fritillaries and White Letter Hairstreaks!M...
08/07/2025

Join us at High Elms Country Park this weekend to try and spot Silver washed Fritillaries and White Letter Hairstreaks!

Meet at the Cuckoo Wood Car park (TQ439624) at 10:30am

It looks like it'll be a hot one, so make sure you bring plenty of suncream, water and a sun hat!

Contact - Steven Lofting ([email protected])

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Sevenoaks
TN14 7

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