Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. A short walk locally at the end of the afternoon today produced the first of the new brood of Peacocks. Having seen probably thousands of caterpillars locally over the last couple of months, I suppose it's no surprise - but it does seem very early. I would say the likelihood of a second brood is quite high. There were lots of fresh Commas around, and several new Red Admirals -amongst all the usual suspects. [Posted by Dave Miller]
Purple Emperor pupae in Heartwood Forest. Last night I visited Heartwood Forest to search for Purple Emperor pupae using an ultraviolet torch (they fluoresce spectacularly when illuminated). After the first couple of hours I drew a total blank, and around midnight I decided to return home. However, I thought I'd give it another 5 minutes to check a short distance up the main ride northwest of Langley Wood before turning back to the car. I'm thrilled to report I found two pupae in quick succession, about 4 metres up, in adjacent mature sallows beside the ride. I returned this afternoon with my camera and managed to get some decent photos, despite the tremendous gusts of wind! I noticed a whole load more sallows in the vicinity and will return later this week to check them out (we usually don't see grounding males in Heartwood until at least a week after the first UK reports, so there's still time!). [Posted by Andrew Neild]
SW Fritillary and WL Hairstreak in Northaw. Silver-washed Fritillary in the garden today plus double figure Meadow Browns. A couple of White-letter Hairstreaks flitting around the garden and finally got a photo. Seen them in the village in the past but this is the first year they have been in my garden [Posted by Sam Fuller]
Whippendell Woods. A delightful afternoon in Whippendell Woods to see our first White Admirals of the year also Silver-Washed Fritillary on the wing. 2 White Admiral 3 SW Fritillary, Meadow Brown 25+, Speckled Wood 3, Comma, 14+, Large Skipper 4, Red Admiral 3, Holly Blue 3+, Cinnabar moth 2, Large White 4+, Unidentified flying Whites 10+ and 2 Peacock caterpillars going off to pupate. [Posted by Peter Fewell]
Sightings at Oakwood Park, Trent Park & Town Park, Enfield. 2 male White-letter Hairstreak together 'spiralling' & settled at Oakwood Park this morning from 0930 to 0945 BST - my first of the year [FOY. 1 Comma near Oakwood entrance at Trent Park at 1248 BST. 1 Comma at Town Park, Enfield. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
White-letter Hairstreak at Horsenden Hill. Pete Fewell, Rick Vickers and I took the branch stall to the Horsenden Festival of Nature in Ealing today. An excellent event and good to meet so many branch members and supporters in person. At lunchtime we visited the Elms behind Horsenden Farm and saw two White-letter Hairstreaks in the canopy [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Sightings at Enfield & Southgate. 2 Small Tortoiseshell together at a private site near Trent Park & 1 Common Emerald at ASDA Southgate this evening - my first of the year [FOY]. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Sightings at Oakwood Park. At Oakwood Park this afternoon [1415 to 1515 BST] - 2 Holly Blue [1 W of 10 km line & 1 E of 10 km line], 2 Speckled Wood W of 10 km line, 1 Painted Lady nectaring on Bramble blossom W of 10 km line, 4 Comma [2 together, W of 10 km line & 2 E of 10 km line], male Brimstone W of 10 km line, 5 Small Skipper E of 10 km line, 1 Burnet Companion E of 10 km line, 5 Marbled White E of 10 km line, 6 Small Heath E of 10 km line, 1 Common Blue E of 10 km line, 1 Silver Y E of 10 km line & 1 Large Skipper E of 10 km line. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
White letter hairstreak. Batford - weedy/ scrubby field by the B653 - At least 3 WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAKS in SW corner of field in small elms around large bramble bush. [Posted by Darin Stanley]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. A very warm and sunny day from the outset, but at least it wasn't quite so warm in the morning when I toured my local patch again. 16 species were seen: Meadow Brown(250+), Small Heath(50+), Green-veined White(25), Small White(20), Marbled White(17), Common Blue(12), Red Admiral(10), Small Skipper(10), Comma(9), Large White(8), Large Skipper(4), Holly Blue(2), Painted Lady(2), Small Copper(1), Small Tortoiseshell(1), Brown Argus(1). Notable were the numbers of GVW - all very fresh and including many sets of mating pairs. The contrast between the undersides of the sexes is particularly clear when they are paired, with the female showing a strong lemon yellow. The other highlight was the number of Marbled Whites, the highest I have seen here, and also including a pairing. The sexes in this species are also quite distinct underneath, with the female in cream and gold contrasting with the male's black-and-white. [Posted by Dave Miller]
White Admiral in Bramfield Park Wood. Not a great picture but it was above my head. Very pleased to see it after a two year absence of records in this traditional location for White Admiral [Posted by Andrew Wood]
Sightings at Oakwood Park. At Oakwood Park this afternoon [1425 to 1500 BST] - 1 Comma W of 10 km line, 1 Cinnabar, 1 Orange Beauty [Commophila aeneana] - my first of the year for this site, 3 Small Heath, 5 Marbled White, male Large Skipper & 2 Burnet sp [either Six-spot or Narrow-bordered Five-spot] - only seen in flight - I would favour them being the latter, because they generally fly earlier - all E of 10 km line. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Tracks around Danemead HMWT. No luck spotting White Admiral or SWF on this hot day but still early doors. Different to yesterday I did find Small Skippers (or maybe Essex) and several Painted Ladys, one even agreed to pose. Also I accidentally woke up a sleeping Silver Y. [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
first Silver Washed Fritillary. doing my transect in broxbourne woods near the west car park. I saw 2 Silver Washed Fritillaries. or it maybe one travelling around a bit. [Posted by steve kiln]
Small Blues on TV!. Great footage of Small Blue on Springwatch this week, with some interesting behavioural observations. You can watch it on iPlayer, Episode 10, starting after 11 mins 30 secs. Or if you watch from the start there is some great footage of Yellow-banded Longhorn Moths lekking. Here's the link Springwatch [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
White-letter Hairstreak in Stevenage. White-letter Hairstreak active over the elm canopy at Six Hills Common at 0845 hours [Posted by Peter Clarke]
FOY Marbled Whites and Small Skipper. On my Alexandra Park transect at midday I saw two new species for 2025: a couple of Marbled Whites and a Small Skipper. [Posted by Dee Cullen]
White Admiral outside Danemead HMWT. I saw this guy yesterday jetting about but wanted a photo which I got on today's walk. Lots of new faces around - at least a dozen fresh Red Admirals and a pair of Small Tortoiseshells necturing on buttercups. Haven't seen a Marbled White yet around the farm only elsewhere. Also FOY - Silver Y. Happy hunting [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
Sightings at Enfield. At private sites near Trent Park - 2 Common Blue, 3 Marbled White & 1 Straw Dot. 1 Red Admiral along 'London Loop' path at Bay Farm. At Gordon Hill Station - 1 Comma & 1 Small White nectaring on Bramble blossom. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. Fewer species seen today on my local patch (14), but one was a butterfly I hadn't seen yesterday - a Brimstone. It looked completely fresh, and might well have been the first of the summer generation. By contrast, in amongst all the bright new summer Commas was one left over from 2024's hibernators. The other standout from the day was a very blue female Common Blue. [Posted by Dave Miller]
