Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Painted Lady in Stevenage. My first Painted Lady of the year in my Stevenage garden basking on the ground at 0745 hours [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Sightings at Trent Park & Southgate. At Trent Park [1600 to 1700 BST] - 1 Small Tortoiseshell near Oakwood entrance, 1 Small Copper near Triangular Wd, 1 Ringlet & 3 Comma. At ASDA Southgate - 1 Brimstone Moth. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
More White-letter Hairstreaks in Verulamium Park. Another 8 WLH's this morning at two different locations in the park, both on King Harry Lane. At least three individuals seen in flight and at rest on elm by the entrance to the former golf course. A new site for me was by the Causeway entrance where I saw two pairs of males clashing on nearby trees and a single WLH at rest high in the canopy. Most unusually, the elms here are 50-60 feet high, very unusual for Herts! [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Sightings at Enfield & Southgate. 1 Large White & 1 Red Admiral at Lakeside, EN2. At ASDA Southgate - 2 Common Emerald, 1 Riband Wave & 1 Treble Brown Spot. 1 Comma at Southgate Chase Allotments. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Adonis Blues on Therfield Heath. An early start for Bob and I at Therfield Heath on the lookout for Dark Green Fritillary in particular. The area we searched was the slopes either side of the main path southwards from the cafe towards Icknield Way. It wasn't long before we found a Dark Green Fritillary skimming over the vegetation but like the others we saw it just would not settle for a decent photograph. In all, there were at least 20 in addition to 4 Adonis Blues (surprised to see these this late for this year's spring brood anyway), 100+ Marbled White, 50+ Meadow Brown, 5 Small Heath, 3 Comma, male Brimstone, 2 Large White, 2 Holly Blue, 2 Ringlet and a Small White. Small Tortoiseshell (my first of the year) was seen flying past when savouring coffee and cake at the cafe. Also a mature Peacock larva on a nettle leaf. We were unsuccessful with our other target species - the White-letter Hairstreak - to be found just off the Icknield Way towards Therfield village - maybe it was too hot for them to be flying around. [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Tracks around Danemead HMWT. Hot day so I stayed on the wooded tracks for a afternoon walk around 16.30. Luckily I saw two White Admiral silhouettes ascending into the Fir tree canopy. I gave chase and eventually found the Hornbeam outpost where he returned to again and again. I was busy fiddling about with the shaky zoom on my phone when another White Admiral landed on the bramble next to me. Also seen 2 SWF flying full throttle. This morning I saw 1 White Admiral at Balls Wood HMWT near the bridge during a very very quick walk around but that's all I saw. [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
Sightings at Trent Park. 5 Comma & 2 Ringlet at 'New Fields' Trent Park this afternoon from 1515 to 1610 BST. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAK. Batford - weedy/ scrubby field by the B653 - 2 WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAKS in elms surrounding large Bramble bush in SW corner. [Posted by Darin Stanley]
White-letter Hairstreaks in Verulamium Park. At least five WLH on the tallest elm on Bluehouse Hill, opposite the lower end of Seabrook Meadow. Around 9am this morning I saw two clashing pairs of males and another individual all in flight at the same time. I also had several good views of WLH at rest on leaves near the top of the Elm. Earlier, a single WLH on Elm viewed from the park, close to the layby on King Harry Lane [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. The overall butterfly numbers and variety of species on my local patch near Heathrow are still increasing as the season progresses - a lengthy walk late morning produced over 450 butterflies with 18 species represented. A further walk early evening specifically to look for Purple Hairstreaks turned up a couple in the oaks bordering the J14 roundabout - 19 species for the day. Other highlights were the first Essex Skippers of 2025, and a second brood Brown Argus arguing with a second brood Small Copper. [Posted by Dave Miller]
Sightings at Trent Park, Enfield & Southgate. At Trent Park - 2 Comma by lower lake, 2 male Large Skipper together edge of Moat Wd near Obelisk. At private sites near Trent Park - 1 Comma, 1 Holly Blue, 1 Large Skipper, 1 Small Tortoiseshell & 1 Painted Lady nectaring on Bramble blossom. 1 Peach Blossom at ASDA Southgate - my first record for this site & my first of the year [FOY]. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
White Admirals at Potters Crouch Plantation. Among the few butterflies flying within the wood we found five different, as far as we can tell, White Admirals. Two were clashing in a clearing and all were very restless. None were seen on the abundant bramble blossom. [Posted by Andrew Wood]
Rivers Orchard Sawbridgeworth and fields. Mid-morning, min 92 Marbled White, almost certainly 100+ but only 2/3 of the main field covered, 2 Small Skipper (ffy), 7 Ringlet (ffy) 20+ Meadow Brown, 2 Speckled Wood, 2 Common Blue, 2 Small Heath, also 3 White Letter Hairstreaks on the sheltered side of the Orchard Elms, 1 Perched male and 2 that spiralled 20ft up from the canopy. [Posted by Laurence Drummond]
Cassiobury Park. Following our trip into the woods, it was time to have at the Park which we missed, it was a fine day with at least 3 Large whites, 2 Commas, 50+ Meadow browns, 3 Speckled wood, 1 Marbled white, 3 Large skippers, 1 Small white, and 1 Small heath. I had a brief look in the Nature Reserve with another 3 Meadow browns, 1 Red admiral and 1 Comma. I had a short look up the Lime Avenue but no sign of the Purple Emperor yet... Back in the Park there were another 6 Meadow browns, and the I had a look by the Croquet Club with 20+ Meadow brown, 2 Large skippers, 1 Small white, 1 Comma, some other Whites and finally a confirmed Ringlet. [Posted by Rick Vickers]
White-letter Hairstreak colony & Dark Green Fritillary. A thriving White-letter Hairstreak colony observed in the canopy of a group of fairly mature Elms at approx TL141303 about 225m north of Hexton Rd. Also a few seen in nearby Wood Lane, again in Elm canopy. A single but rather fine looking Dark Green Fritillary seen in field-side wild flower patch adjacent to a footpath at approx TL141301 about 60m North of Hexton Rd. [Posted by Gillian Marchant]
Clouded Yellow in Royston. A Clouded Yellow passed through a local field just south of Royston, stopping just long enough for me to confirm its identity but not to take a photograph! It flew off strongly to the west. It looked to be in pristine condition. At least four Small Skippers were also seen - a very early date for this area. Interestingly, Large Skippers are emerging at the same time - bang on cue for a 'normal' summer here, if such a thing exists any more. [Posted by Martin Johnson]
Sightings at Trent Park & Monken Hadley Common. At Trent Park - 5 Comma, 1 Painted Lady nectaring on Bramble blossom & 1 Ringlet near Triangular Wd - my first of the year [FOY]. At Monken Hadley Common - 2 Comma, male Large White, 1 Small Heath & 1 Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet settled - my first of the year [FOY]. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
White Admiral at Symonshyde Great Wood. A single WA at this wood between Hatfield & St Albans - welcome as its several years since I last saw one there. No sign of SWF's yet. Last night, the unexpected sight of a Gypsy moth in my bedroom! First both for this year & that location [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. A short walk locally at the end of the afternoon today produced the first of the new brood of Peacocks. Having seen probably thousands of caterpillars locally over the last couple of months, I suppose it's no surprise - but it does seem very early. I would say the likelihood of a second brood is quite high. There were lots of fresh Commas around, and several new Red Admirals -amongst all the usual suspects. [Posted by Dave Miller]
Purple Emperor pupae in Heartwood Forest. Last night I visited Heartwood Forest to search for Purple Emperor pupae using an ultraviolet torch (they fluoresce spectacularly when illuminated). After the first couple of hours I drew a total blank, and around midnight I decided to return home. However, I thought I'd give it another 5 minutes to check a short distance up the main ride northwest of Langley Wood before turning back to the car. I'm thrilled to report I found two pupae in quick succession, about 4 metres up, in adjacent mature sallows beside the ride. I returned this afternoon with my camera and managed to get some decent photos, despite the tremendous gusts of wind! I noticed a whole load more sallows in the vicinity and will return later this week to check them out (we usually don't see grounding males in Heartwood until at least a week after the first UK reports, so there's still time!). [Posted by Andrew Neild]
