Butterfly Conservation Hertfordshire and Middlesex Branch Home page

Welcome to the Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch of Butterfly Conservation

Butterfly Conservation is a registered charity dedicated to the conservation of butterflies and moths

Forthcoming events

19 July - 11 August - Join in for the Big Butterfly Count - for details click here. Why not join us for some of our branch Big Butterfly Count walks listed below. Also listen to Malcolm Hull's interview on local radio (12 minutes in) here
20 July - Hilfield Park Reservoir 11:00am - 1:00pm Family Butterfly Day organised by the HMWT - donation requested
21 July - Millhoppers Reserve 12:30pm - 2:30pm walk
22 July - Therfield Heath 11:00am - 1:00pm walk
25 July - Aldbury Nowers 11:00am - 1:00pm walk organised by the HMWT - donation requested
26 July - Hexton Chalk Pit 11:00am - 1:00pm walk organised by the HMWT - donation requested
27-28 July - Festival of Wildlife Weekend at Panshanger Park 10:00am - 4:00pm organised by the HMWT
28 July - Stafford Open Space, Hillingdon 10:15am - 1:00pm walk for Brown Hairstreak
Please go to the Events page on the national Butterfly Conservation's website for more details

Latest news and information

Species (35) reported this year : Peacock, Red Admiral, Comma, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Small White, Holly Blue, Camberwell Beauty, Large White, Orange-tip, Speckled Wood, Green-veined White, Small Heath, Small Copper, Green Hairstreak, Grizzled Skipper, Dingy Skipper, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, Purple Hairstreak, Small Skipper, White-letter Hairstreak, Marbled White, Ringlet, Dark Green Fritillary, Essex Skipper, Purple Emperor, White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, Gatekeeper, Chalkhill Blue - see sightings page

Painted Lady influx this year so can you find any in the Big Butterfly Count? For sightings already reported in 2019 go to the Migrant Watch page on the Butterfly Conservation website

Brown Hairstreak reported from Surrey (12 July?), so we should find it in our area very soon. Start looking on hedgerows with plenty of blackthorn, preferably near woodland. Contact Andrew Wood for best sites. For species account click here. Why not join us for a walk on Sunday 28 July at the Stafford Open Space in Hillingdon - see above for details

Advice on controlling infestation of Box Tree caterpillars, please read UPDATED BC note here

The Living Churchyards project aims to encourage wildlife in their churchyards. For more details please read here. A workshop day on 13 July at Potton where Andrew Wood will be present. Booking is required for this event

Reports of Green Hairstreak and Small Blue on unexpected sites this year so continue looking out for them in grassland areas even where there is no Kidney Vetch (for Small Blue)

Small Blue project at Greenwood Park - construction completed - please read progress report (latest update 31 May)

Can you help record hibernating Small Tortoiseshells? Read Malcolm's article. There is a link to this article in the current newsletter. If you encounter connection problems let us know

Are there any sites in our branch area you have never been to? Check out the map on the sites page. Many new sites have been added. The map itself can be expanded or loaded under a new tab in your browser

Butterflies bounced back in 2018 according to a study by the UKBMS

Large Tortoiseshell reported in Kent and Lincolnshire in last week of March and one seen in central Essex on 1 April. One seen at Incombe Hole, Ivinghoe Beacon on 23 April. At least 600 in the Netherlands this spring - unprecedented, at least in the last 50 years or so and first proof of reproduction since 1995 - see Chris van Swaay's tweet.

At least 85 people attended the branch AGM and members' meeting on 23 March - photos below © John Murray

Third Camberwell Beauty sighting in north London this year - at Muswell Hill on 24 March

Over the next 12 months Butterfly Conservation are launching a 'Moths Matter' campaign to encourage people to become more interested in moths - see the web page here

The Garden Butterfly Survey 2018 Results summary are out. Click here for details

Which butterfly was top in 2018 according to the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey? Find out more in the latest WCBS newsletter

Brown Hairstreak eggs found further north in Middlesex

Help the new team at Millhoppers - work parties will normally be held every first Sunday of the month - next date 4 August

2018

Holly Blue seen in Islington on 23 December- see Katherine Pogson's tweet

More Brown Hairstreak egg finds in Middlesex - see sightings page

A very successful Brown Hairstreak egg-hunting day on 9 Dec - see sightings page

Advice on two moth species: for controlling infestation of Box Tree caterpillars, please read BC note here. Health warnings on toxic Oak Processionary Moth caterpillars - please read.

Initial National Lottery support for London-based project Big City Butterflies. Please read more here including a job vacancy

9 Herdwick sheep now at the Millhoppers Reserve

Big Butterfly Count 2018 results - Small Tortoiseshell crashes - details

Brown Hairstreak reported from the Borough of Hillingdon on 2 September - see sightings page and Andrew Middleton's video clips of the butterfly in the area on 6 September

Which butterfly was the most abundant in our gardens in 2017? Find out from Butterfly Conservation's Garden Butterfly Survey

Generally in the UK, it was the warmest May on record. UK maps for climate change anomalies shown here

Chequered Skippers flying at Rockingham Forest. Also see tweet on Back From the Brink

Can you prepare a square metre in your garden to provide a refuge for our butterflies and other insects? Please read Alan Titchmarch's Press Release

Butterfly Conservation report a below average year for butterflies in 2017. See here for details and summary of results

About 80 people turned up at the branch meeting at Welwyn on 24 March. More photos can be found on


© John Murray	© Liz Goodyear

Read about the 50th anniversary Conservation Day at Millhoppers NR here. For Press Release from Butterfly Conservation click here.

Congratulations to Andrew Steele on his Woodlands Trust Award - Acorn Award

The Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch has over 1000 members and covers the administrative county of Hertfordshire and the Watsonian Vice-county of Middlesex (VC21).

The London Boroughs included within the Branch area are Barnet, Brent, Camden, City of London, City of Westminster, Ealing, Enfield, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Richmond (north of the Thames), Tower Hamlets and the Surrey District Council of Spelthorne.

Download a copy of our 'Welcome to the Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch of Butterfly Conservation' leaflet for more information

For Branch enquiries please email: elizabethgoodyear@talk21.com; for website enquiries please email peter.clarke4@ntlworld.com