Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Wet Aldbury Nowers. I did a walk out with our new Transect volunteer for the two routes here. Despite the rain we saw an early Ringlet, Meadow Browns, Small Heaths, a Common Blue and Small Skippers. [Posted by Andrew Wood]
Tick and Lyme Disease. It's that time of the year where we need to be more aware of ticks and Lyme Disease. If you are an Assemble member you should find more information in the 'No. 24 Tick and Lyme Disease' document in your Document Hub. The updated guidance has been uploaded to our website (under Committee in the menu bar) [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. A strange sort of day weatherwise on my local patch, mostly cloudy but with a few sunny intervals and still a coolish breeze. However, I managed to see around 200 butterflies of 14 species during the day, including my first Marbled White of the year here. Other highlights included more fresh Small Skippers, a female Large Skipper, another very new Painted Lady, more Small Tortoiseshells and at last a definite female Meadow Brown among the many males. [Posted by Dave Miller]
Sightings in the Barnet & Enfield areas. 1 Painted Lady 'fresh' seen in flight & settled on Bramble 1202 BST [TQ269972], 1 Yellow-banded Longhorn Moth [TQ253973], 1 Alabonia geoffrella [TQ257970] & at least 5 Speckled Wood at Monken Hadley Common. 1 Straw Dot near Cockfosters entrance/Trent Park [TQ280967]. 2 Willow Beauty [1 at Oakwood Station & another at ASDA Southgate] [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
A sunny afternoon at Therfield Heath. After a rainy start at Therfield Heath it brightened up quite nicely . A few slightly tattered Adonis blues and lots of small Heath around . Also a very early marbled white first one of the year . [Posted by James Somerville]
A sunny afternoon at Therfield Heath. After a rainy start at Therfield Heath it brightened up quite nicely . A few slightly tattered Adonis blues and lots of small Heath around . Also a very early marbled white first one of the year . [Posted by James Somerville]
Alabonia geoffrella at Trent Park. 1 Hedge Beauty [Alabonia geoffrella] at Nature Trail/ Trent Park this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Dark Green Fritillary. At least 21 Dark Green Fritillary "In the field edge which runs along the Walkern road approx 200 yards before the R hand turn down Ford Lane." TL 28295 23478 [Posted by Paul Lufkin]
Purple Hairstreak. I found this caterpillar in a Turkey Oak this morning in Hitchin, kindly identified by Malcolm Hull as a Purple Hairstreak [Posted by Phil Barron]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. Every day when I visit my local patch there seems to be something new at the moment. Today I found my first Small Skipper of 2025, a newly emerged Painted Lady which was still a bit floppy and docile, and a group of new male Small Whites puddling on a rare patch of wet mud. There were another 12 species flying, including 5 Large Skippers, my highest total here this year so far. Meadow Browns were probably now up at the three-figure mark - and I only saw a couple of definite females. [Posted by Dave Miller]
FFY White Letter Hairstreaks. 5-6 around the Elms at Cheshunt park around 11.00, plenty of chasing and clashing , suspect they have been out here for at least a couple of days. [Posted by Laurence Drummond]
Rivers Orchard Sawbridgeworth. My first 3 Meadow Brown and 2 Large Skipper of the year, also 1 Holly Blue, 8 Common Blue and 5 Small Heath. [Posted by Laurence Drummond]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. Under mostly cloudy skies this afternoon, I decided to attempt a count of Meadow Browns and Small Heaths on my local patch. I ended up with 87 of the former and 43 of the latter - and wondered what the totals might have been in full sunshine. Only 10 species seen altogether today though: Meadow Brown(87), Small Heath(43), Common Blue(11), Small Tortoiseshell(9), Comma(4), Small White(3), Red Admiral(2), Brimstone(1), Speckled Wood(1), Large White(1). Though numbers have dropped a lot in recent days, there are still one or two new Common Blues around. All the Commas were second brood individuals, looking as vibrant in brown and orange as any fritillary. The highest Small Tortoiseshell total of the year so far here included a pair that hadn't heard the rumour that their species may be becoming single-brooded... [Posted by Dave Miller]
Therfield Heath butterflies. BNA Herts had a wildlife walk at Therfield Heath. we went to church hill very windy but saw 2 Marbled whites, 4 Meadow Brown, a Common Blue, 2 Brown Argus. The highlight was a Dark Green Fritillary. on Church Hill my first of the year. We went to the Rifle Range after lunch and saw 4 Adonis blues, 2 Brimstones. The wild flowers were lovely too. [Posted by steve kiln]
Small Blue at Millhoppers. During today's work party I was delighted to see this fluttering around our chalk bank. This is the first ever record of Small Blue at the Millhoppers Reserve! Apologies for the 'record shot' pictures. [Posted by Chris Hilling]
Therfield Heath. Church Hill warm, sunny - Adonis Blue 1 (male), Small Heath (4). Rifle Butts; Adonis Blue (3 males), Common Blue (3 males), Brown Argus (4). Internet searches indicate that Adonis Blue at Therfield in 2024 had poor 1st and 2nd broods, probably related to the weather. In 2025, internet reported first brood counts have been in single figures. So the species may be at a cross roads and if this 2025 first brood does not fare well, it may not survive 3 poor breeding seasons in succession. Let us hope it responds to the good weather - 2nd brood counts in (August) 2025 will be important. [Posted by Paul Duff]
Small Skipper sighted near Heathrow. Inspired by Dave's records of his observations in and around Stanwell Moor, I headed to the area close to Heathrow in the hope of seeing a small tortoiseshell. Instead, I was most surprised to see this Small Skipper which seems incredibly early even by this year's standards. It was nectaring on grass vetchling. I had it in sight for about 30 seconds, and did not see it again in all the time I spent there hoping it would return! [Posted by David Bristol] [Posted by David Bristol]
Sightings at Hillbrow, Letchworth. 3 x Small Blue; 1 x Small Heath; 1 x Meadow Brown; 1 x Brimstone. Moths: 1 x Cinnabar, 1 x Common Carpet [Posted by Patricia Clegg]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. During a shorter than usual local walk this afternoon, I counted over 70 Meadow Browns and about half that number of Small Heath. Everything else had much smaller numbers, with even Common Blues down to fewer than 20. However, highlights were a Painted Lady, another new Comma and two Large Skippers battling over the same short stretch of path. [Posted by Dave Miller]
Sightings at Grovelands Park, Southgate. At Grovelands Park [1150 to 1420 BST] - 3 Common Blue, 3 Holly Blue, male Meadow Brown, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Small Heath, 4 Speckled Wood, 1 Mother Shipton & 1 Red-headed Cardinal Beetle. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]