Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Hummingbird Hawk-moth & Cinnabar larvae Stevenage. My first Hummingbird Hawk-moth of the year in the garden attracted to the red valerian flowers. Also in the garden Cinnabar larvae on ragwort - did not see any last year [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Batford. 1 Purple Emperor flying south along hedgerow, seen in North West corner on the weedy/scrubby field by KW school by the B653. Seen briefly flying south!! 1 White-letter Hairstreak seen further on the footpath at 13.45 [Posted by Darin Stanley]
Heartwood Forest Purple Emperor update. After yesterday's dreary morning I determined to reach Heartwood today in good time, arriving on station at the previously reported crossroads on the NE edge of Pudler's Wood ( TL161116 ) at around 9.30. Over the course of the next couple of hours a lovely group of excited aficionados formed in this area, around 10 of us or so. Despite great weather there was only a fleeting glimpse of a single Purple Emperor at height, and butterfly numbers were inexplicably much lower than on recent visits. Commas in particular, which had been so prominent in this area a couple of days ago, were seen infrequently and as singletons. I determined to try my luck in The Magical Wood (unsuccessfully), where there are numerous sallows, and then around the crossroads at the northern apex of Langley Wood ( TL161110 ), given that the Pudler's wood area and ride west to the dog pond at Well Wood were being effectively screened by so many others. Upon arrival at Langley Wood I decided to try my luck down the path (SE) to the main car park, and within 50 yards a magnificent male descended almost at my feet, and began eagerly probing the earth and ground-level leaves and grass. Initially skittish, this male became progressively more relaxed in my presence and despite flying onwards down the path various times, allowed me to get closer and closer, providing several opportunities for some of my best shots ever in Heartwood (including a rather intimate "trousering"!). Upon later reviewing my photos I realised that its forewings were slightly malformed, the veins in particular rather irregularly wavy, perhaps the result of some problem during emergence? Nonetheless it flew fine, and did not seem to suffer any ill effects. After this wonderful encounter I headed back to the crossroads at the north tip of Langley Wood and eventually met up with several of the butterfly group members, and offered to show them the nearby empty (hatched) Purple Emperor pupae I had found and reported here previously. This was fun, but then we were treated to a spectacular visit by another male, who swooped down and then circled and approached several of us for about a minute or so, almost landing on us, but unfortunately (fortunately?) none of us were smelly enough for his taste(!), and he flew off into The Magical Wood. Once again Heartwood has delivered entertainment and excitement. Bring it on! [Posted by Andrew Neild]
White clouds at Heartwood. A morning visit to Heartwood was most productive with mostly Green-veined and fewer numbers of Small White in clouds of 20-30+ puddling around the Dog Pond and on various clumps of horse droppings. Additional species seen across the forest were Peacock, Red Admiral, Comma, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Ringlet, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White and Gatekeeper. Unfortunately, the target of the visit, the Purple Emperor, was not recorded. [Posted by David Hunt]
Sightings at Trent Park & Enfield. At Trent Park - 3 Comma [2 near Church Wd & 1 edge of Moat Wd], 2 Purple Hairstreak at Sect. 5 'New Fields', 3 male Gatekeeper - my first of the year [FOY], female Green-veined White near Rangers' Office, 3 Large White, including a pair mating at North Lawn. At private sites near Trent Park - 3 male Gatekeeper, 2 Peacock, 1 Painted Lady, 1 Small Copper & 1 Comma. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Middlesex White Admiral. Exciting news, met LWT volunteers during a walk in Gutteridge Wood, Hillingdon and White Admiral confirmed last week after a lack of sightings for a number of years. Even better another sighting at Charville Lane near Ten Acre Wood, a new location [Posted by Paul Busby]
Sightings at Broomfield Park, Palmers Green, N13 & Southgate. At Broomfield Park, Palmers Green, N13 this afternoon [1500 to 1715 BST] - 1 Comma, 1 Holly Blue, male Large Skipper, 1 Marbled White & 1 Red Admiral. At Dalrymple Close, N14 - 1 Small Blood-vein. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Sherrardspark Wood. A Silver Washed Fritillary and Purple Hairstreak were in the glade just down from the main car park. Earlier a fast moving Purple Emperor was seen at Heartwood Forest. [Posted by John Yates]
(Off the beaten) Tracks around Danemead HMWT. In July last year I reported here that I found a beautiful Silver-washed Fritillary f.valezina. As it's right on my doorstep I was able to find that female everyday for a week just after dinnertime as she never strayed too far. I watched her lay many eggs on the trees so this year I have been keenly checking the area in search for a daughter as I believe the form is largely hereditary. Today was the day I got lucky with this box fresh oil slick stunner, amazingly the very first SWF I have photographed this season. I was able to get a few quick photos after watching her bramble necturing route, hopefully I can find her again in softer lighting for the undersides. Makes all the thorn scratches and horsefly bites worth it. [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
First Marbled Whites at Cranford Country park since 2003. Pleased to see three Marbled Whites at Cranford Country Park, which look being the first recorded since 2003 on the transect. Large number of Small Skippers, over 75 seen on grassland areas. [Posted by Paul Busby]
Sightings at Trent Park & Enfield. 5 Comma [4 at Trent Park - 1 near Triangular Wd, 1 by lower lake & 2 together, edge of Moat Wd & 1 at a private site near Trent Park], male Small Copper at Sect. 6 'New Fields' Trent Park, 1 Large White at Trent Park, 1 Peacock at a private site near Trent Park. 1 Least Carpet at ASDA Southgate - my first of the year [FOY]. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Heartwood Forest Purple Emperor update. An excellent morning, humid and with plenty of sunny spells and Purple Emperor sightings, all centred around the crossroads at the NE corner of Pudler's Wood ( TL161116 ) from 09.30 until 13.00. Within ten minutes of arriving I had my first grounding, a restless male, which stayed only a couple of minutes, after fruitlessly probing the grass and vegetation. At 10.15 another appeared fleetingly around a low oak but - disappointingly - disappeared within a couple of seconds. At 10.30 I was speaking to a curious passer-by who was asking me what a Purple Emperor looks like, when down swooped a male, which then looped around and glided about and circled in a zig-zag pattern towards us. I was convinced it was going to land on one of us, but sadly not, and it flew away powerfully. Needless to say I didn't need to explain to my delighted bystander what a Purple Emperor looks like! Ten minutes later down came another male, also probing grass and low vegetation, staying for barely a minute. But still, it provided much excitement! At 10.50 a patrolling male came out of The Magical Wood, circled over the cherry tree at the corner, and disappeared back as quickly as it had appeared. At this point I was joined in quick succession by two Emperor-ing enthusiasts, Fiona and Carl, and we had a lot of fun chatting about butterflies. At 11.40 Fiona called out a couple of fighting males at the top of the tall linden and ash trees towering above the crossroads, and then we all saw two again at midday. We were by this time very unfortunate to suffer an almost continuous chain of individual clouds which meant that despite plenty of sunny patches elsewhere, we were curiously left almost constantly in the shade until 12.50, when in a limited sunny spell, Carl spotted two individuals heading off side-by-side along the low canopy forest on the north-eastern edge of Magical Wood - I had a fleeting impression that one was larger than the other, and the absence of fighting was more suggestive (perhaps) of a courting pair. But we shall never know! All in all this was an excellent morning, made all the more pleasurable by large numbers of swirling groups of whites of all three species, about 15 commas, several red admirals, two peacocks, two brimstones, a couple of purple hairstreaks, a few ringlets, a few small and large skippers, and large numbers of meadow browns and marbled whites. Butterfly numbers in Heartwood, at least, seem much higher than last year. And I suspect we have a few more days of good numbers of Purple Emperors. Having checked my photos, I can now confirm I have taken shots of 6 individuals - 4 males and 2 females. In the past few years the most I have seen in a whole season has been about 5 or 6, and yet this year's season has only recently begun. Fingers crossed! [Posted by Andrew Neild]
13 Purple Hairstreak in my Harpenden Field. A record count for my garden, perhaps helped by keeping lots of ant mounds [Posted by Jamie Brown]
Possibly First Chalk Hill Blue for UK for 2025 on Therfield Heath. We found a male Chalk Hill Blue on Therfield Heath Work Party this morning. There are no reports on branch or national list so it may be the first in the UK this year. Either the same one was seen twice or there were two. It will be a week or so before there are many Chalk Hills. Plenty else to see; we managed 11 more butterfly species between us in 3 hours of ragwort pulling, although no cinnabar caterpillars as we would have left those plants. Plenty of Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns, Small Heath, Dk Green Frit., Small/Essex Skippers are on the increase compared to last week (none were definitvely Essex; they probably would be found if enough time was spent), Large, Small and Green veined whites, one each of Small Copper, Peacock and Red Admiral. [Posted by Nick Keep]
Tracks around Danemead HMWT Part 2. I found another Purple Emperor on the very short afternoon walk, I had assumed it was the same individual I saw earlier as it was in the same place. Having compared the close up pictures of the underwing and they are two different Males. This peaceful chap was happy puddling and dipping my hand into the puddle was enough to tame him like a pet. [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
Egg laying Brimstone. Very surprised to see a female Brimstone busily laying eggs on the Alder Buckthorn in my Ware garden this lunchtime. It looked relatively fresh so I can't believe it was the 2024 generation???? [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
Sightings at Enfield & Trent Park. At private sites near Trent Park - 1 Peacock & 1 Red Admiral. At Trent Park - 2 Comma [1 near Water Grdn & 1 along bridle-path near Merryhills Brook], 2 Red Admiral [1 by lower lake & 1 near Water Grdn], female Large White near Water Grdn & female Green-veined White at 'Three Bridges'. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Tracks around Danemead HMWT. I missed out on the Purple Emperor frenzy last weekend as I was away for a wedding, so went out this morning better late than never. It wasn't very long before I found my first grounded Male and in total had three encounters with possibly two individuals. Due to ongoing forestry work there is a big shortage of fresh dog poo and restrictions on where you can go, so maybe a good opportunity to experiment with some homemade baits to see if anything bites. [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
Purple Emperor at Tring Park. News from the 21st June 2025. Very pleased to report a male Purple Emperor gliding into the natural play area at the top of the escarpment in Tring Park at about 11.30am before flying out again and settling on the main path for a few minutes -( King Charles Ride). This is the earliest I have seen a Purple Emperor here since June 30th 2018, a remarkable 9 days and the first time I've seen one here since July 2021. [Posted by Philip Woodward]
Gatekeeper at Horsenden Hill. My transect walk included the first happy little solitary Gatekeeper I have seen this year at Horsenden Hill (East side). [Posted by Claire Easter]
