Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Garden Pebble at Enfield Chase Station. 1 Garden Pebble at Enfield Chase Station this evening. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Ffy Large Skipper. Light winds and some sun tempted me down the field from the house to the Old Rivers orchard site, not much about but a ffy Large Skipper was an unexpected bonus and my first ever in May, 2 male Brimstone, 2 tatty Green-veined White, 3 Holly Blue and 3 Small Heath. [Posted by Laurence Drummond]
Red Admirals. Very few on the wing today, I was boosted by seeing a pair of Red Admirals in the West Highgate Cemetery on my transect. Only one Holly Blue otherwise. [Posted by Dee Cullen]
Alabonia geoffrella, Brimstone, Cinnabar, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Mother Shipton, Orange Footman, Orange-tip, Peacock, Red Admiral, Silver Y, Small Heath, Small White, Speckled Wood & Yellow-barred Longhorn at Enfield, Southgate & Trent Park. 2 Alabonia geoffrella at Trent Park [1 edge of Church Wood & 1 near Water Grdn], male Brimstone at a private site at Enfield near Trent Park, 1 Cinnabar edge of Church Wd/Trent Park [FOY], 6 Green-veined White [2 at Trent Park & 4 at private sites at Enfield near Trent Park], 3 Holly Blue [1 at Dalrymple Close, N14, 1 at Trent Park & 1 at Jolly Farmers PH, Enfield Road, EN2], 5 Mother Shipton at Trent Park [3 at 'New Fields' & 2 at 'Old Golf Course'], 1 Orange Footman at Rough Lot/Trent Park [FOY], 3 Orange-tip [female edge of Church Wd/Trent Park & 2 males at a private site at Enfield near Trent Park], 2 Peacock [1 near Water Grdn/Trent Park & 1 at a private site at Enfield near Trent Park], 1 Red Admiral at a private site at Enfield near Trent Park, 3 Silver Y [1 near Church Wd/Trent Park & 2 at a private site at Enfield near Trent Park], 7 Small Heath [3 at 'New Fields' & 1 at 'Old Golf Course' Trent Park, 3 at private sites at Enfield near Trent Park], 1 Small White near Oakwood entrance/Trent Park, 5 Speckled Wood at Trent Park & 2 Yellow-barred Longhorn near Church Wd/Trent Park [FOY]. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Small Heath out in force. This afternoon I visited Nomansland Common, Sandridge and recorded 37 Small Heath and 4 Small Copper. Cinnabar and Silver Y moths were also around in good numbers [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Small Copper. One on allium flowers in my St Albans garden TL130046, in pristine condition while I was hanging out the washing so no chance of a photo as it moved off after a few seconds. [Posted by Alan Gardiner]
Large Tortoiseshell. Battered LT at Incombe Hole (Bucks) SP 9573 1549 W3W: pulses.upset.stiffly [Added 'Bucks' - Peter Clarke] [Posted by Richard Ashford]
Small Heath at Oakwood Park & Holly Blue & Speckled Wood at Enfield Town & Town Park, Enfield. 1 Small Heath at Oakwood Park this morning at 0900 BST. 1 Holly Blue at Chase Green Grdns, Enfield Town this afternoon. 1 Holly Blue & 1 Speckled Wood at Town Park, Enfield this afternoon. 1 Speckled Wood near New River at Enfield Town this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Holly Blues. Late afternoon, 4 Holly Blues in my Ware garden - 2 taking moisture from a puddle and 2 chasing each other! Also Red Admiral and male and female Brimstone [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
Small Blues. Further count of 9 Small Blues, male and female at Chiswell Green in late afternoon sunshine. [Posted by Clive Burrows]
Branch Walk: 7 Dingy Skippers in Hemel. Today's Branch Walk at Shrubhill Common in Hemel Hempstead attracted 10 people, who saw 7 Dingy Skippers. The site looked in good condition I spite of poor weather conditions we saw. 7 Dingy Skippers, 3 Mother Shipton (including a mating pair), Silver Y moth, 6 Small/Green-veined Whites, 5 Burnet Companion, 2 Small Yellow Underwing, 4 Brimstone, 1 Orange Tip and 1 Holly Blue egg laying on Dogwood. Earlier at Bovingdon Brickpits, the morning walk organised by the branch had less success. Conditions remained cloudy and 7 of us saw just 1 Common Blue, 1 Small Yellow Underwing, 1 Green-veined Whife, 1 Small White and 1 Green Longhorn Moth. We also met five old English goats who are now carrying out Conservation grazing at the site [Posted by Christine Ridley and Malcolm Hull]
Butterflies & Moths at Enfield, Southgate & Trent Park. 1 Angle Shades near outside light at ASDA Southgate this afternoon, 1 Common Carpet at a private site at Enfield near Trent Park, 5 Green-veined White [3 at private sites at Enfield near Trent Park & 2 at Trent Park], 2 Mother Shipton [1 at a private site at Enfield near Trent Park & 1 near Shaws Wd/Trent Park], 1 Snout at Hadley Rd, Enfield [FOY], 2 Speckled Wood [1 at a private site at Enfield near Trent Park & 1 at Rough Lot/Trent Park]. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Small Blue. 2 Small Blues seen in the late afternoon on the outer perimeter fields of the old Butterfly World site in Chiswell Green. The butterfly was on the wing here earlier in the week. [Posted by Clive Burrows]
Hexton Chalk Pit. Good numbers of Dingy Skippers. Brimstone and Small Heath plus a couple of Green Hairstreak, a Brown Argus and a variety of moths - Pyrausta Nigrata, Small Purple-barred and Burnet Companion [Posted by Patricia Clegg & Nikki Williams]
Beane Valley Grizzled Skippers. A permission visit to another private site today. 13 Grizzled Skipper adults and 10 eggs, all on Agrimony (It is the easiest larval food plant to examine). One leaf had four eggs on it. We hope to visit it in the next few weeks to see if we can locate larval activity. [Posted by Andrew Wood & Liz Goodyear]
Painted Lady. This pristine Painted Lady visited the dwarf lilac in our front garden today. There are a few of them around. [Posted by Andrew Wood]
Orange Beauty at Oakwood Park. 2 Orange Beauty [Commophila aeneana] at Oakwood Park this afternoon - one fresh & another faded [FOY]. Also at this site - 1 Speckled Wood, 1 Holly Blue, 4 Mother Shipton [FOY] & 7 Silver Y. At Houndsden Gutter, N21 - 2 Speckled Wood together. At Grovelands Park - 2 Holly Blue included a female settled, 1 Peacock, 1 Speckled Wood & 1 Silver Y. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Addition to walks programme. I am planning on a butterfly recording walk this coming Sunday (19th). I have advertised it on the Stortford Nature FB account. Meet at Tescos car park by Timpsons at 11am for a 4-5 mile walk taking in footpaths to Hadham Hall, Millennium Wood, Bury Green, Stocking Wood, East Wood and the adjoining footpaths. Weather forecast looks fine. Meet at CM23 4DD. [Posted by Jono Forgham]
Bug for missing photos on duplicate news items fixed. To prevent creating duplicates in the first place when asked to re-submit form please do not accept unless you need to, e.g. if you made a mistake and want to go back. Either click 'Cancel' on message prompt or do not refresh browser. [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Late afternoon sun. Decided to pop into Rickneys as some late sun. 4-15 -5 pm. The place was buzzing. 2 Treble Bar Moth, 3 Silver Y to start. Then 5 Brown Argus, 3 Grizzled Skippers, Small Heath, Large White, Peacock and 2 Common Blues my first of the year. Decided to pop to Waterford Heath. 5 Treble Bar, 4 Silver Y, 4 Burnet Companion. 1 Peacock, 1 Grizzled Skipper, Small Heath, Brimstone, Brown Argus. Worth going. [Edited by Peter Clarke] [Posted by steve kiln]