Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Brimstone in St Albans. I just had a Brimstone in my St Albans garden. I think that’s the earliest for me [Posted by Chris Hocking]
Brimstone in St Albans. Tricia Gibbons saw first Brimstone butterfly of 2024 in St Albans garden - so beautiful [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Brown Hairstreak eggs at Totteridge. I returned to Totteridge today - it was far too sunny to see eggs properly and terribly muddy! I ended up with a total of 10 Brown Hairstreak eggs, 6 in the same area as Wednesday's eggs finds near Folly Brook but also 3 in different areas of the scrub and a 4th close to where the very first egg in 2020 was found in the main area. [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
Red Admiral at Northaw. Red Admiral in garden [Posted by Sam Fuller]
Andrew Wood's online talk 'How the ground below our feet affects the butterflies and moths in the sky'. See the YouTube clip : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcgAwhhE6ms [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Brown Hairstreak eggs at Hampstead Heath. One Brown Hairstreak egg found at Hampstead Heath [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Brown Hairstreak eggs in West Hendon. Two Brown Hairstreak eggs found at West Hendon Playing Fields [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Brown Hairstreak eggs at Totteridge. I have spent the last two days searching the main fields at Totteridge and found 20 Brown Hairstreak eggs in total. Yesterday it was a matter of finding 4 quite quickly and then waiting for at least another 1½ hours before the next eggs were found, today it was a bit easier. However, the more interesting was that today I finished by crossing the Folly Brook where in previous years much searching for eggs has been conducted with no success and 3 Brown Hairstreak eggs were found quite quickly - I will need to return as there is still a lot of blackthorn to check here! [Posted by Liz Goodyear]
How the ground below our feet affects the butterflies and moths in the sky. How the ground below our feet affects the butterflies and moths in the sky - Andrew Wood. For Zoom details click https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85141207659 [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Brown Hairstreak eggs Brockley Hill. Six Brown Hairstreak eggs found at Brockley Hill [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Brown Hairstreak egg in Composers Park. One Brown Hairstreak egg found at Composers Park, Elstree [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Brown Hairstreak eggs in Hertfordshire, at Merry Hill, Bushey. Ian Watts and myself decided to look at Merry Hill in Bushey following on from our close but not close enough Brown Hairstreak egg find last week. There is a lot of blackthorn although some looked unsuitable - some areas ticked all the right boxes, oak, ash, bramble and nectar! In the end we found 14 Brown Hairstreak eggs although nothing for the last hour!!! We think the site, or at least where the eggs were found is about 1.5km inside the Hertfordshire border so we now wonder where else they can be found! [Posted by Liz Goodyear & Ian Watts]
Brown Hairstreak eggs in Fryent Country Park and Welsh Harp Reservoir. Two new Brown Hairstreak eggs found at Fryent Country Park. Two also found at Welsh Harp Reservoir [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Brown Hairstreak eggs in London Loop between Aldenham Country Park and Stanmore Common. So close but so far!! Following on from Rohan Harris' recent very successful Brown Hairstreak egg finds at Stanmore Country Park, Ian Watts and myself decided to try and find an egg in Hertfordshire today so we followed the London Loop from Aldenham Country Park towards Stanmore Common. Needless to say the first decent blackthorn we found was where a ditch forms the boundary between Greater London and Hertfordshire. We found two Brown Hairstreak eggs one was 25 yards from the county border and the second was even closer at 10 yards! After that on our very muddy route back via Elstree, there was more blackthorn along the London Loop (which we didn't search) but after we turned off back towards Elstree we found very little! [Posted by Liz Goodyear & Ian Watts]
Brown Hairstreak eggs in Stanmore Country Park. Nine Brown Hairstreak eggs found at Stanmore Country Park [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Peacock at Trent Park. 1 Peacock seen in flight & settled on base of Hornbeam, edge of Williams Wd/Trent Park [TQ294973] at 1325 GMT - my earliest ever, I don't think I have ever seen one in January [Posted by Robert Callf]
Brown Hairstreak quietly retaking London and beyond. Brown Hairstreak quietly retaking London and beyond in today's Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/31/brown-hairstreak-rare-butterfly-quietly-retaking-london [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Red Admiral in Bayfordbury. Saw my first butterfly of the year: a Red Admiral flying in the sunshine in the Pinetum at Bayfordbury [Posted by Ian Flack]
Brown Hairstreak eggs in Fryent Country Park. Three Brown Hairstreak eggs found at Fryent Country Park [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Brown Hairstreak eggs in Fryent Country Park and Stanmore Country Park. 17 Brown Hairstreak eggs on the North West side of Fryent Country Park. Also 7 Brown Hairstreak eggs found at Stanmore Country Park [Posted by Rohan Harris]