Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Red Underwing at Southgate. 1 Red Underwing at ASDA Southgate this afternoon - my first of the year [FOY] & my first for this site! [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Sightings at Enfield & Southgate. At private sites near Trent Park - male Brown Argus, 3 Common Blue [2 males & 1 female], 1 Comma, 2 Large White & 1 Dusky Sallow nectaring on thistle head. At Grovebury Crt, N14 - 2 Large White nectaring on buddleia this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Jersey Tiger moth rescued again. Jersey Tiger moth in Royston, rescued again [Posted by John Keith Gypps]
Peacocks in Hibernation, St Albans. Todays Shed Transect walk revealed five Peacocks are now in hibernation. One objected to my torch, flashed its eyespots and hissed at me. There are still a few Peacocks on the Buddleia in my garden, so I'm expecting more hibernators next week. Sadly no Small Tortoiseshells again this year so far [Posted by Malcolm Hull,]
Hairstreaks at Merry Hill, Bushey. Having never been before I went today to get my bearings and make sure there was enough there before bringing the family to look for Brown Hairstreaks on the following weeks. The bramble is mostly heavy with fermenting fruit but on the last dregs of bramble blossom there was a single Brown Hairstreak with a large tail cut out. Also seen was several Purple Hairstreak including a female busy laying eggs, 2 Small Coppers (1 on Fleabane, 1 on Ragwort), 4 Holly Blues, 20+ Common Blue males. I look forward to revisiting. [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
Sightings at Enfield & Trent Park. At Trent Park -1 Painted Lady nectaring on ragwort near Water Grdn, male Common Blue near Shaws Wd Cottages & 1 Jersey Tiger near Dew Pond. 2 male Common Blue at a private sites near Trent Park. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Website update. Species accounts updated based on the latest branch annual report (2024 records) including new distribution maps and phenology charts. Now, while a news item is being submitted the description text is scanned for an UK butterfly species. If a species is detected, spelt correctly and capitalised then the species text is set up with a link to the species account. The substitution also occurs when the news item is 'previewed' before submission. For example: Brown Hairstreak common blue Meadow brown GV White Chalkhill Blue Chalk Hill Blue Jersey Tiger [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Warren Farm Nature Reserve Butterfly Walk. The booking link for this walk is now available https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/warrenfarmnr-butterfly-walk-tickets-1364623970029 [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
Batford. 1 Jersey Tiger moth in SW corner of weedy/scrubby field by KW school and the B653 in Batford at lunchtime. [Posted by Darin Stanley]
Silver-washed Fritillary at Therfield Heath (Fox Covert). A very tatty male Silver-washed Fritillary in Fox Covert, west of the Therfield Road, was the first I've seen on Therfield Heath since 2023, indicating that this species is still (just) clinging on here. Also seen in the woods were Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Large, Small and Green-veined Whites, Peacock, Red Admiral, Comma, a Brimstone and lots of Speckled Woods. A Hummingbird Hawkmoth was also seen. On Church Hill, second generation Brown Argus and Common Blue have emerged in decent numbers and around 20 Chalkhill Blues were seen, mainly sheltering from the strong wind at the bottom of the hill. Gatekeeper was by far the commonest butterfly seen here. A single male Marbled White was also seen. [Posted by Martin Johnson]
Sightings at North Enfield. 1 Comma, 3 Large White & 1 Peacock at Gough Park, Forty Hill. At Guy Lodge Farm, Enfield - 1 Holly Blue & 1 Jersey Tiger. At a private site at North Enfield - 10 Common Blue, 4 Brown Argus & 1 Small Heath. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
A good year for Chalk Hill Blues. A nice fresh breezy day at Therfield Heath the sun maintained nicely and I easily saw nealy 50 chalk hill blues they seem to be having a better year than last . A very good year for Gatekeepers too - lots around the bramble bushes . [Posted by James Somerville]
Whitewebbs Butterfly walk 28th June 2025. Seven people joined Butterfly Conservation and the Friends of Whitewebbs Park for a walk around the former municipal golf course at Whitewebbs on Saturday 28th June 2025 to look for Small Heaths and Skippers. Over the last five years, the closure of the golf course has seen the numbers of Small Heath, Large, Small and Essex Skipper butterflies increase dramatically, these London Priority Species can now be found across the newly created grasslands since management ceased. The weather was warm, but overcast, and the Skippers were co-operative and found in good numbers. This allowed for examination of the underside of the antennae, supported by mobile phone photographs, which promoted discussion around this distinguishing feature, along with the differences in life cycle and host grasses. Desire line paths criss-cross the site, allowing for comfortable walking through the tall grasses, with buttercups, brambles and Creeping Thistle providing feeding areas for Marbled Whites, Gatekeepers and the large numbers of Meadow Browns. The Small Heath window seemed to have closed early with the warm dry Spring this year. Cinnabar caterpillars, Sea Spurrey, Sheep’s Sorrel and Small Coppers added variety and conversation along the walk. Also included are photos of Silver-washed Fritillary and White-letter Hairstreak recently seen in the Park! [Posted by Mark Saunders]
Heartwood Forest. A first time visit to this site, hoping - without success - to see Purple Emperors. However, c. 5 Purple Hairstreak around the oak tree adjacent to the so-called Dog Pond (presumably named after the dogs whose owners believe are immune to enterococcus infection?). Also small numbers of Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Large White, Small White. [Posted by Bob Theaker]
Culpepper Community Garden (Islington) key sightings. Brown Argus, Common Blue, Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Jersey Tiger [Posted by Ian Ellis]
Silver-washed Fritillary in Woodside Park N12. Worn individual visited garden. First record. [Posted by Ian Ellis]
Branch Walk at Gillespie Park, Islington. 30 people attended our Branch butterfly walk in Islington this morning. We spotted over 50 butterflies from12 different species. Gatekeepers were the most common, flitting along the shrubs and nectaring on the Marjoram. Common Blues were the next most numerous, flourishing in the swathes of Birds-foot Trefoil. Particularly noteworthy species included Ringlet, Purple Hairstreak, Jersey Tiger and Brown Argus, none of which would have been found in this location a few years ago. We searched the well endowed buddleia bushes along Drayton Park, which were yielded Red Admiral and Large White, but were otherwise disappointing Peacocks were seen i the park last week, but not today, suggesting that in this area Peacocks have already entered hibernation Green-veined White, Meadow Brown, Small White and Speckled Wood completed the days list. Many thanks to Elena and the Islington Ecology Centre who hosted the event and provided delicious Pizza, Chocolate cake and musical entertainment afterwards [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Female Emperor at Heartwood. At around 11am a pristine female Purple Emperor flew around us as we walked up the main ride from the car park past Langley Wood. It settled for a second before flying on down the ride. [Posted by John Yates]
Heartwood Forest Purple Emperor Update. I arrived earlier than usual at 09.00 at the dog pond at the SW edge of Well Wood ( TL 15751 11346 ). Here I met Paul, who had been around for at least an hour by this stage. A little disappointingly he had only seen a single individual, feeding on the sap run, and it was not present upon my arrival. A few minutes later a fresh and relatively intact female flew into view, settling high but positioned conveniently on a leaf edge and allowing some decent shots. Over the course of the next 90 minutes we additonally spotted at least two males flying around and visiting the sap run, distinguishable by the distinctive and significant damage to their wings. One of these males came down to the ground at 09.40 and also kindly flattered me with a visit to my butterfly bait feeding station, the first Emperor to do so, despite many commas, red admirals, wasps, bees and flies enjoying my tasty offerings over the previous few days (the bait consists of fermenting chopped bananas with red wine, honey, and brown sugar). My conclusion is that this bait is undoubtedly attractive to fruit-feeding butterflies, but much less so for Emperors - in fact even less than bare ground!!! A short time later a couple of dog walkers took great interest and asked what we were looking at. When I described a Purple Emperor, they said they'd just seen one in the north of the forest (approximately TL163118) near the descent to West End Barns, and showed me on their phone a photo of a fresh female on the ground (female groundings are very rare at Heartwood - I've seen only one since starting to look for this butterfly over the past 5 years - this shows the great opportunities afforded by citizen science, if we can harness it!). After 11 am there were few sightings and long periods of absence, so I called it a day at 11.40. However, I stopped off on the way to check out the NW ride along edge of Langley Forest and at midday I had great views at TL 16054 11042 of an individual which looked like it was planning to ground, although it never did so, flying from between 5 and 15 feet, and circling back and forth, but sadly it eventually flew off. Today's grounded male and the female I photographed in the oak are new to me (compared with photos). The female in the mobile phone shot by the dog walkers was impossible to check, the angle of view and resolution are unfortunately too poor. The total numbers of confirmed individuals this year has therefore now hit the milestone of 20 (15 males, 5 females). I have yet to check some additional phtoos sent in to me, so this number may still rise. Some observations from the past days: every male is in a very poor state, battered and worn, and males are probably on their last legs. Females have been more visible compared to previous years, and are still in decent condition, and even grounding, so we may yet see them for the next week or two. In the hot weather both sexes dramatically reduce their flying from around 11 am, so an early start is recommended for those wanting to spot Emperors around the dog pond and on the oak tree's sap run. [Posted by Andrew Neild]
White-letter Hairstreak near Chipperfield. White-letter Hairstreak persistently on bracken and on the ground on a ride in Woodman's Wood near Chipperfield, along with four Commas in a square metre of ground, suggesting an increasing desperation for moisture and/or minerals. This is a previously unrecorded tetrad for the hairstreak. There was at least one Clouded Magpie at the same spot, which is an uncommon moth in the county and like W-l H is an elm-dependent species, plus the now-expected Box-tree Moth. Also a strong emergence of Holly Blue, which was very common today - one was feeding on a raspberry (fruit not flower) at Chipperfield Common. [Posted by Colin Everett]