Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Copthall Park South. Two Brown Hairstreak eggs found at Copthall park South. [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Small White. Small White, adult, flying (and at rest) in house. Appears to be a fresh specimen. Based on the upper wing pattern, this identifies as a first brood male. If that is the case, I hesitate to consider it a 'late' or 'last' record for 2024; rather it appears to be an 'early' or 'first' record for the 2025 cohort? Though the chance of this adult surviving into the New Year and then to the spring is not high. [Posted by Leslie Williams]
Brown Hairstreak at Fryent country park. After many walks at Fryent country park over the last few months searching for Brown Hairstreak eggs over five hundred have been found with finds in every one of the field enclosures across the whole site. [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Brown Hairstreak egg rescue Prestwick Road Meadows. Due to the work put in by Liz Goodyear and the result of a visit by Rohan Harris's initial egg search followed by Liz's a good number of Brown Hairstreak eggs were discovered. Rick and myself added another 2 eggs on our initial visit. The site was in need of management which is due anytime soon. Another egg rescue was needed and thanks to Liz Goodyear's superb map we were able to locate and remove any eggs that were in the areas due to be managed. We initially had a target of 18 eggs to relocate and remove and the tags really helped us to find the eggs. One in a cluster of 3 eggs was missing but another egg was found on the next marked egg compensating. 1 tagged egg by Liz on the mid eastern section was snapped off but fortunately Rick eventually saw the tag and rescued that egg. We removed 1 extra egg marked by Rohan close to the southern side next to the 2 eggs due to be rescued as it was even more vulnerable than the other two. As we got through the site relatively quickly rescuing 19 eggs we had a bit of time on our hands before dark and went on to find a further 5 eggs 4 of need of rescue the other tagged and left making a total of 23 eggs rescued. All eggs safely stored in Ricks garden and hopefully on their return to Prestwick Road Meadows we can monitor their progress to see if we can gather some evidence of the caterpillars reaching a bud! [Posted by Peter Fewell]
Big City Butterfly Zoom meeting 11 December 7pm - 8pm Date confirmed. For the last three and a half years, activities focusing on the project’s three themes: improving habitats, recording species and inspiring people, have been delivered across 17 inner-London boroughs. Project Officers Emma and Steve will take you through the project’s achievements and plans for legacy as they move into the final few months of the project. Booking details here. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/big-city-butterflies-project-achievements-tickets-1069198263789 [Posted by Liz Goodyear]