Finally our third attempt at doing our bit towards the Big Butterfly Count went ahead on Wednesday 31st July, albeit around the Rife rather than Cissbury.
14 members met at the footbridge, and under the nominal lead of Graham Tuppen, enjoyed a warm wander around the field, lagoons and Rife path, counting butterflies. Overall we spotted 52, with Gatekeepers again the most numerous. Others were Large and Small Whites, Speckled Woods, Red Admirals, Meadow Browns, a Comma and a Wall Brown, plus 2 Silver Y Moths.
We were surprised not to see more varieties and numbers, but it seems our count reflected the national picture of a poor year for butterflies.
6 of us finished the morning with a visit to the cafe at the Country Centre.