Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Sherrardspark Wood, Welwyn Garden City. A first for me in the wood. Two White Admiral sunning themselves in Oak canopy with a number of Purple Hairstreak around too. Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Large White, Small White and Red Admiral around too. [Posted by John Yates]
Bike for Butterflies 2025 - Sponsorship Request. Simon Savile is riding his bike across Wales to raise funds for Butterfly Conservation. Please sponsor him via his Just Giving page if you can. Simon is a BC Trustee who has been very supportive of our Big City Butterflies project, so a very worthy cause Sponsor Simon [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Mother of Pearl at Enfield. 4 Mother of Pearl disturbed from stinging nettles at a private site near Trent Park this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Very early Brown Hairstreak. A record came throuh from iRecord from Paul Taylor who saw and photographed this Brown Hairstreak in the Hounslow area [Posted by Andrew Wood on behalf of Paul Taylor]
Heartwood Forrest. I braved the heat and headed for Heartwood Forest to look for Purple Emperor this time on my own. Unfortunately I wasn't that successful but I did get 2 sightings and a possible fly by but there were Peacock and Red Admiral present and my briefest glimpse I can only say it looked larger!The first sighting was around the top of an oak at end corner of Puddlers Wood sometime into the afternoon. On my way back to the car park I had my second sighting. I stuck to the path that passed magical wood that was more likely to have horse poo on ! I did get a sighting of probably a female pass me before climbing above the hedge-line. I didn't manage to get a photo of a P Emperor today but did get to see a number of other species as below Peacock 6+, Speckled Wood 10+ with most seen along from puddlers wood to the pond. Silver-Washed Fritillary 3, Brimstone 3, Comma 10+, Red Admiral 3, large Skipper 8+, Small Skipper 10+, Gatekeeper 5+, Purple Hairstreak 4, Brown Argus 1, Common Blue 1, Small Heath 1, Good numbers of Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Marbled-Whites. Also good numbers of Large, Small and Green-Veined White. [Posted by Peter Fewell]
Bishops Stortford. After my third effort this year I got male Purple Emperor patrolling the territory at Thorley lane east TL4719 just after 2pm. [Posted by Laurence Drummond]
Therfield Heath. Dark Green Fritillaries and Chalkhill Blues were out in force this afternoon. [Posted by John Yates]
Sightings at Enfield & Trent Park. At private sites near Trent Park - male Common Blue, 2 Small Copper nectaring on ragwort, 7 male Gatekeeper & 1 Blood-vein. At Trent Park - 1 Comma by lower lake, 2 Painted Lady [1 by lower lake & 1 edge of Icehouse Wd], 1 Purple Hairstreak near Ride Wd, 3 Peacock [1 edge of Rough Lot & 2 together on buddleia at Shaws Wd], 1 Red Admiral edge of Icehouse Wd, 1 Silver-washed Fritillary on buddleia at Shaws Wd - my first of the year [FOY], 1 Small Tortoiseshell edge of Icehouse Wd - very 'fresh', 2 Small White pr mating edge of Icehouse Wd. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
East of St Albans. An early start at Jersey Lane, where I was rewarded by a Small Tortoiseshell and two White-letter Hairstreaks, the first time I’ve succeeded in finding the latter species at this site. Later in Symonshyde Great Wood 18 Silver-washed Fritillaries, concentrated along the electric ride. A female was egg laying on a gnarled pine, starting at 7ft off the ground, then 8ft and finally 10ft, presenting the prospect of a very long journey for the tiny caterpillar next year. Two sightings of Purple Emperor on the southern side of the wood. New generation of Brown Argus (9) and Common Blue (1) also on the wing [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Large Tortoiseshell at Wareside. Phil MacMurdie saw a Large Tortoiseshell on 29 June - for more details see below [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Purple Emperor. In Highgate [Posted by J Radcliffe]
Heartwood Forest Purple Emperor update. The weather was fine on arrival at the NE edge of Pudler's Wood ( TL161116 ) at around 9.30, with a light breeze, no clouds, and a pleasant temperature of around 25 centigrade (it rose to at least 33 degrees after lunch!). There I bumped into a fellow purple emperor enthusiast named Les, who I'd last seen while emperoring at Theberton Woods in Suffolk(!) 3 years earlier, and together we spent an enjoyable 1.5 hours pottering around all my favourite Heartwood haunts in search of Purple Emperor. However, with absolutely nothing to show for our efforts, and the heat building rapidly, when we got back to our starting point at 11.10 we called it a day, and Les headed off home to Harpenden. I lingered for a few minutes, and barely a couple of minutes after Les had left I was astonished to have a male Purple Emperor land almost at my feet. I'm so sorry, Les!! This male was skittish and impatient, probing ground for a few seconds then flying quickly up and down the ride, and swinging back and around in wide loops, touching down unpredictably. I didn't get great shots, but it was exciting to see. I did however get sufficient detail to compare when I got home with photos of my previous males. This was my 6th confirmed male of the season. Adding to this my 2 female sightings, and a further sighting of a 7th male by Peter Ewer, this is proving to be a very good year for Emperors at Heartwood. (Peter's emperor grounded about 50 metres from the dog pond at Well Wood on 24th June - he kindly sent photos to me for review and comparison). [Posted by Andrew Neild]
Rosy Tabby at Southgate. 1 Rosy Tabby at Dalrymple Close, N14 this evening - my first of the year [FOY]. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Plashes Wood. TL3820, Hot... 2 Male Purple Emperors chasing, somewhat lethargically at the lower territory, the main high point territory here has lost so many trees it may not be possible to view from the footpath anymore. [Posted by Laurence Drummond]
Sightings at Southgate. 1 Green-veined White at Southgate Chase Allotments. At ASDA Southgate - 1 Box-tree Moth, 1 Least Carpet & 1 Grey/Dark Dagger [remaining]. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Woodland butterflies at Bricket Wood Common. Silver-washed Fritillary was the star species - I saw 41 in total, my highest ever daily tally from a single site in Herts. This included four mating pairs. I saw 4 White Admiral, indicating this species is having an average year. In Mutchetts Wood canopy gap, Purple Emperor was more active than usual. For a majority of the 50 mins I was there, a dominant male spent much of the time flying in circles, around the master tree and canopy gap. It perched briefly in the oak and adjoining conifer. It spent much time chasing, first of all a bird, five times a rival male PE, a large dragonfly and a Purple Hairstreak! Chris. Reman and I are leading a walk round this site on Saturday 12th July. Details on the events page if you’d like to join us [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Hertford Heath / Haileybury (TL354 107). I went the oak grove outside of Haileybury at 9am to look for Purple Hairstreaks before the heat got up. I checked the oaks one by one and I eventually found a colony of between 20-30, around the centre of the grove. Unfortunately this tree doesn't have any low branches so I didn't attempt any pictures. Also seen in the oaks at eye level was a Purple Emperor but half a good look was all I was allowed as it disappeared. Some bramble blossom in sunny areas is starting to go over, so at this time in the morning the creeping thistle in front of the woods is the latest hotspot for many different butterflies. Highlight was this very fresh Painted Lady which I saw taking salts next the road, pleased to find one so vivid and stationary! You can clearly see the iridescent luster (better before uploading) at the base of the wings and hopefully can imagine the shimmering effect seen in person. [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
sighting wareside. Hi Some sightings from Wareside TL396156 Lunch on the patio had an unexpected visitor on the buddleia Large Tortoiseshell (see picture, sorry best I could get with the phone). This is still present Monday. Others visiting were : Comma - 3 Red Admiral - 4 Peacock - 5 Large White - 2 Small White - 6 Ringlet - passing through 3 Meadow Brown - 2 Marbled white - 1 Brimstone - 1 Hummingbird Hawkmoth - 2 (although are seen regularly. In the evening we see 6 Purple Hairstreak, regularly moving from the Oak tree to the nearby Apples, to roost. More to follow Best regards Phil MacMurdie [Posted by Philip MacMurdie]
Mother of Pearl at Boxer's Lake, Enfield. 1 Mother of Pearl at Boxer's Lake, Enfield [TQ304961] this evening. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Whippendell Woods Butterfly Walk 29th June 2025. Due to the heat many dropped out for this afternoons butterfly walk. The start wasn't easy due to roadworks and a lack of parking space. I had to drop Rick off to make it for 2pm I eventually arrived 10mins late! It was just as well as there were a few late arrivals that did make the walk. We eventually set off with 6 attendees around 2.30 . Although the heat was a bit intense in places the shadier spots in Whippendell Woods kept us going. We started our journey along the Lime Avenue where we saw 2 Purple Emperor high in the Lime Trees, also a few passing Purple Hairstreaks and some of the other butterflies included in the walk list. At the end of the Lime Avenue we turned left along the path to connect with the path Rick named the the Fritillary Free-way. After a relatively couple of poor years for Silver-Washed Fritillary along this ride it is once again a great path to see them. Another mating pair seen today along this stretch and overall we must of seen 15+ Silver-Washed Fritillary. The first White Admiral was spotted further along the ride by one of the attendees which did perform some of their characteristic flight pattens. I just about got away with going as far as “Camilla Oak” today with the heat but it was worthwhile as we saw a second White Admiral at this location which also performed the gliding flight. It was the first we had seen this year at this location. It was great to be able to see these 3 species again on our summer walk as well as a few Purple Hairstreaks. On our list of butterflies sighted today other than the above during the walk were. Red Admiral, many whites a mixture of Large,Small and Green-Veined, Comma and Peacock were out in good numbers, Meadow Brown and Ringlets were numerous along with Gatekeeper just picking up. A Speckled Wood was also seen, 3+ Brimstone, Large Skipper 5+ Park butterflies seen As I was forced to park at some length from the meeting point 1 Marbled White was spotted on my hast to start the walk. After the walk I did get to see and confirm my first Essex Skipper of the year and getting back to Ricks got to see a fresh Comma egg laid on hops! Although we didn't get to see any Purple Emperor close up this weekend it has been an enjoyable one. Happy Butterflying all! [Posted by Peter Fewell]
