Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Sightings at Forty Hall CP, North Enfield, Gordon Hill Station & Southgate. At Forty Hall CP, Enfield - female Large Skipper. At Archery Wood, Enfield - 1 Comma - my first of the 'summer brood'. At Guy Lodge Farm, Enfield - 1 Painted Lady & 1 Cinnabar. At private sites in North Enfield - 2 Brown Argus, male Large Skipper, 27+ Painted Lady, 2 Orange Beauty [Commophila aeneana] - one 'faded' & one 'fresh', several Cinnabar & 1 Silver Y. At Whitewebbs Park - 2 Green-veined White. At Gordon Hill Station - 2 Riband Wave & 1 Treble Brown Spot. At ASDA Southgate - 1 Common Marbled Carpet & 1 Riband Wave. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Rivers Orchard and fields Sawbridgeworth TL473145. Mid-Afternoon, cloudy but just about enough brightness to cast a shadow, 1 Small Copper, 3 Common Blue (inc a "Blue form" female), 2 Holly Blue, 4 Painted Lady, 2 Speckled Wood, 1 Marbled White (ffy), 1 Meadow Brown (ffy), 8 Small Heath. [Posted by Laurence Drummond]
Sightings from Stanwell Moor. Much more comfortably cool today near Heathrow, but good amounts of hazy sunshine and plenty of butterflies. The highlight of the day was that the new brood of Commas (f. hutchinsoni) had chosen today to appear. Meadow Browns outnumbered Painted Ladies now as numbers of the latter appear to be gradually declining as they move north. A few new Red Admirals appeared to be mixed in with them, frequenting the same bramble bushes. One other point of interest was a Brown Argus with anomalous spotting on the underside. Today's count included 12 species: Meadow Brown (61), Painted Lady (36), Small Heath (29), Common Blue (13), Holly Blue (11), Brown Argus (10), Red Admiral (8), Comma (5), Large Skipper (4), Small White (4), Speckled Wood (3), Large White (1). [Posted by Dave Miller]
Tracks around Danemead HMWT. Many early dates are now recorded for many BC branches after this very warm dry Spring and after seeing the post from yesterday I thought I would check my local patch for an early White Admiral. I had two brief encounters, the same individual I think. Challenging with just a camera phone but great fun trying to predict which Bramble blossom will go to and waiting for them. [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
