Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Millhoppers Reserve footbridge. I am pleased to inform everyone that the footbridge at the Millhoppers Reserve is open and ready to accept the feet of all lepidopterists and other like minded folk. A good job as we now have quite a bit of water flowing in the stream! Huge thanks to fellow warden Peter plus volunteers Len and Phil who helped me with constructing the ramps either side of the bridge. [Posted by Chris Hilling]
Ealing Beaver Project Brown Hairstreak egg hunt at Paradise Fields. I have now heard back from the co-ordinators of the egg hunt on 11th January and the final count was a phenomenal total of 242 eggs counted during the morning; 71 of the eggs were found in the 2nd year regrowth in the 'beaver coppice area'! [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
Hedgerow Heroes. Volunteers from BC and CPRE Herts planting hedges on the Woodhall Estate north of Hertford today. The 15 species selected are all good for butterflies or moths, including Buckthorn for Brimstones, Elm for White-letter Hairstreak, Holly for Holly Blue and Blackthorn for Brown Hairstreak (ready for when it arrives in this area!). There’s another task at the same site at 10 am next Sunday 25th. Email james@cpreherts.org.Uk if you’d like to volunteer to help. All necessary tools and training provided [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Hibernating Peacocks. Today I carried out my first hibernating butterflies transect of the year. Five Peacocks all still dormant in my shed. One has acquired an unusual pale spot on the underwing. I’ve not seen this before and interested to know if anyone has an idea what may have caused it? [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Welsh Harp Brown Hairstreak egg hunt. The recent Brown Hairstreak egg hunt/survey at the Welsh Harp is reported as having found 59 eggs - a superb result Full report here [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
Branch Event- Brown Hairstreak Egg Hunt at Ruislip Gardens. -5c @ 8am on my garden thermometer so no surprise we had a few drop outs but the sun shone on the 6 that braved the cold which was to be a sunny pleasant social event along the 2+km loop passing various Brown Hairstreak master trees and clearings where the adults frequent. 28 eggs were found in total with everyone including the 3 first timers finding 2+ which was a reasonable count due to the blackthorn hedges having been cut back hard upto the Ickenham Marsh Reserve entrance, which we didn't venture to for the above reason. Nice that 2 eggs were found in an area of very heavy flailing. Egg picture courtesy of Dee. [Posted by Nick Furtek]
Xmas greetings. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Red Admiral in St Albans. Red Admiral sunning itself on the garden wall of Eleanor Ormerod’s house on Holywell Hill this afternoon. One of the latest dates in the year I’ve recorded a butterfly in the wing in Herts. Good news from my hibernation shed - all 5 Peacocks are still intact, despite nearby spider activity! [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Sighting from Stanwell Moor.. Glorious sunshine, light winds and temperatures just into double figures was just the recipe for a Red Admiral to appear on my local patch. [Posted by Dave Miller]
Butterflies Boom in New St Albans Wildflower Meadows. Herts & Middx Butterfly Conservation volunteers have been working with St Albans District Council to record butterflies on over 40 new Summer Meadows. These new meadows have been created in parks and other green spaces across the district. Mowing has been reduced to a single cut and collect at the end of the summer. Wildflower seeding with a mixture of good larval foodplants, nectar sources and Yellow Rattle has been carried out on selected sites. The results are impressive. Butterfly numbers have soared, with a 350% increase since 2022. You can read more about it on the councils website by clicking on the link below. Or contact me at malcolmhull@hertsmiddx-butterflies.org.uk for a copy of the full report St Albans Butterflies. The PDF version of the report can be viewed on the website under 'Projects' on the horizontal menu bar. [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Brown Hairstreak egg hunting. Returned to Brook Farm Open Space near Totteridge & Whetstone Station to try and complete my search of all the blackthorn. I also continued along the Dollis Valley Green Way to Whetstone Stray Open Space which on the south side of Totteridge Road, but there wasn't so much blackthorn and a lot on the west side of the Dollis Brook had been trimmed rather than cut back (worth checking next year though). Searching conditions were ideal with nice cloudy skies but either I wasn't trying very hard or there weren't many eggs to be found? In total in just over 3 hours of searching, I found only 7 Brown Hairstreak eggs and just one of these was in Whetstone Stray Open Space, the others around the edges of Brook Farm Open Space. [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
Another Winter Red Admiral. Observed a free flying Red Admiral working its way along the Warren on Hartham Common, Hertford just before noon todau. [Posted by Andrew Wood]
Red Admiral. Red Admiral on SE-facing side of cultivated Viburnum at Norcott Court Farm near Berkhamsted [Posted by Colin Everett]
Winter Red Admiral. A Red Admiral was taking in the sun this lunchtime on Hartham Common, Hertford. [Posted by Andrew Wood]
Planting hedges for butterflies and moths. Burrs Green Farm, Walton-at-Stone - volunteers from Herts & Middx BC and Herts CPRE planted another 150 meters of hedge today. That’s around 750 individual saplings, all selected as being particularly suitable for butterflies and moths. Why not join us for the next planting day this Sunday, 14th December, (for details see entry for 1st December below). There will be more tasks in other locations next year, more details to follow after Christmas.., [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Saving our Insects - Dave Goulson. For those that missed last Wednesday's Zoom presentation by Dave Goulson - this is the YouTube link. It is a very thought provoking and well worth watching. Insects have a lot to contend with in this modern world but there are still a few things anyone can do to help! Saving our Insects [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
Brook Farm Open Space & Dollis Brook Greenway. Five years ago the branch launched the Blackthorn Survey Project - with the aim of encouraging members to look for blackthorn during the 2021 winter lockdown and the hope of finding suitable Brown Hairstreak habitat that might one day be colonised? One site suggested was Brook Farm Open Space which is just north of Totteridge & Whetstone Station on the Northern Line. I finally visited the site today starting at Wyatts Farm Open Space at the north end. I quickly found 4 Brown Hairstreak eggs, however, from that point eggs were much harder to find. I then crossed the Dollis Brook and found the grassland that our member had suggested we look at. It was certainly blackthorn rich but not all was in ideal condition. I spent just over 3 hours in total searching today and in total found 19 eggs which was very satisfying. The light conditions were very poor at times as it was very bright sunshine so there were many eggs probably missed! There is still more blackthorn along the Dollis Brook towards the station and further south on the other side of the road if anyone else has a few hours to spare! [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
Sighting from Stanwell Moor. A warm sunny day here just to the west of Heathrow, and at around midday I spotted a Red Admiral in one of the sheltered areas next to the river. [Posted by Dave Miller]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. On another sunny (though not quite so warm) day today, I found two Red Admirals in my local hotspot by the River Colne. One was an individual I'd seen a couple of times before recently, and though the other closely resembled one I'd seen yesterday, close scrutiny of the photos showed it to be a different butterfly. [Posted by Dave Miller]
Hertfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Over the last year the branch committee have been busy contributing ideas towards a Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Herts. This has been co-ordinated by Herts County Council and the Herts & Middx Wildlife Trust. It provides a blueprint for nature recovery across the county and incorporates many of our ideas for saving butterflies, moths and our environment. It is an important piece of work and will guide funding for conservation priorities for years to come. You can read the plan here We haven't forgotten Middx, which is covered by the Greater London LNRS. We have also been advising on that plan which I expect to be published in the next few months [Posted by Malcolm Hull]