Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch
Saving butterflies, moths and our environment
Speckled Wood at Enfield. 1 Speckled Wood at a private site near Trent Park this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Speckled Wood at Town Park, Enfield. 1 Speckled Wood at Town Park, Enfield this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Small Coppers on last Herts & Middx BC butterfly walk this year. Grey skies, a stiff breeze and temperature of 13 degrees greeted us on arrival at Nomansland Common. 8 optimistic butterfly spotters set off and we’re soon rewarded by some excellent views of a knot-grass caterpillar. A few glimmers of sun encouraged the Small Coppers, with several seen in flight. Others were sunbathing, but the sun did not shine and most were hunkered down on prominent sprigs of Heather. Later we found a group of six Small Coppers all close together with mating in mind. Crossing to the east side more Small Coppers were seen nectaring on Ragwort. In total 27 seen along with a possible Red Admiral, many Yellow legged mining bees and a couple of Dung Beetles playing football with rabbit droppings. A cool but satisfactory end of the season [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Large White, Red Admiral & Small Copper at Enfield. 1 Large White, 1 Red Admiral & 1 Small Copper at private sites at Enfield near Trent Park during late morning & early afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Large White at Enfield. 2 Large White nectaring on buddleia at Enfield Rd, EN2 this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Garden Carpet & Meal Moth at Southgate. 1 Garden Carpet & 1 Meal Moth at ASDA Southgate this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Hampstead Heath Brown Hairstreak. Three Brown Hairstreak eggs at new locations on Hampstead Heath. [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Croxley Moor. After reading about Malcolm's count of Small Copper at Croxley Moor I hooked up with Rick Vickers for an afternoon visit. We didn't reach the numbers seen by Malcolm but still reached 48+. They were in various states of condition from fresh to semi tatty. Some with variant blue scales on the lower hind wing and others without. Some finding the dwindling amount of ragwort to feed on others basking on semi dried cow pats. Looking at where we had travelled on site we realised there was a lot we missed. We can conclude that there must have been well over a hundred on the wing and probably over 200 over the entire site! Thanks Malcolm for sharing the info on Small Coppers. Other butterflies seen 11 White's unidentified , 1 Green-veined White, 8+ Small Heath, 2+ Meadow Brown and a single Comma. [Posted by Peter Fewell]
Brown Hairstreak at Hampstead Heath. Two Brown Hairstreak eggs found at Hampstead Heath. [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Large White at Enfield. Female Large White at a private site near Trent Park this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Welsh Harp. Three Brown Hairstreak eggs found in new areas at Welsh Harp [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Small Coppers at Chorleywood. Visited Chorleywood Common to continue my search for Small Coppers. I recorded 6 myself, but met up with the transect walking team who had seen 5. With only one possible overlap that’s a site total of 10. Half were on Ragwort, the rest on heather. Courtship attempts were observed and one male was flying round all the Ragwort plants searching for females. One female left the Ragwort and went exploring for egg laying sites on Sheep’s Sorrel . Meadow Browns still out in good numbers - I saw 48. Also Small Heath, Silver Y, Red Admiral , Small and Large Whites [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Brown Hairstreak. Brown Hairstreak eggs found at Welsh Harp (3). Woodfield Park (1) and West Hendon Playing fields (12). [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Trent Park. 1 Comma & 3 Speckled Wood at Water Grdn/Trent Park this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Small Coppers in London. Continued my quest for Small Copper at Osterley Park in Hounslow. 15 spotted, mostly nectaring on the plentiful supply of Ragwort with a couple of courtships. Speckled Wood, Comma and Brown Argus also on the wing at this site [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Comma at Whitewebbs Park. 1 Comma along Flash Lane at Whitewebbs Park this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Brown Hairstreak. Brown Hairstreak egg at Parkfields and Allum Lane Spinney. [Posted by Rohan Harris]
UK Butterfly Emergency Declared. Big Butterfly Count results reveal lowest numbers on record - Butterfly Conservation calls on Government to declare a ‘Nature Emergency’ and act now by banning toxic neonicotinoid pesticides, before it’s too late - People encouraged to sign open letter to Steve Reed here: https://butterfly-conservation.org/emergency - Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count 2024 saw the lowest number of butterflies spotted per Count in its 14-year history - A third of species had their worst year on record ever - More than 9,000 Big Butterfly Counts reported not seeing a single butterfly. Wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation has today declared a national ‘Butterfly Emergency’, with results of this summer’s Big Butterfly Count showing a marked and hugely concerning decline in numbers. Overall, participants spotted just seven butterflies on average per 15-minute Count, a reduction of almost 50% on last year’s average of 12, and the lowest in the 14-year history of the Big Butterfly Count. It was the worst summer in the Count’s history for Common Blue, Holly Blue, Green-veined White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady and Scotch Argus. And the majority of species (81%) showed declines in the number seen this year compared with 2023. In total, just over 935,000 butterflies and day-flying moths were recorded across the UK from 12 July - 4 August, down almost 600,000, equivalent to more than a third of 2023's total, and 9,000 Counts were logged as seeing zero butterflies, the highest in the citizen science programme’s history. These figures have alarmed scientists and resulted in the charity declaring a nationwide ‘Butterfly Emergency’. Dr Richard Fox, Head of Science at Butterfly Conservation, said: “The previous lowest average number of butterflies per Count was nine in 2022, this latest figure is 22% lower than that, which is very disturbing. Not just that, but a third of the species recorded in the Big Butterfly Count have had their worst year on record, and no species had their best. The results are in line with wider evidence that the summer of 2024 has been very poor for butterflies. “Butterflies are a key indicator species; when they are in trouble we know that the wider environment is in trouble too. Nature is sounding the alarm call. We must act now if we are to turn the tide on these rapid declines and protect species for future generations. Butterfly Conservation is writing an open letter to Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs calling for the Government to act now for nature by declaring a ‘Nature Emergency’ and banning butterfly-killing neonicotinoid pesticides once and for all, with no exceptions, before it’s too late. Dr Fox explains: “When used on farmland, these chemicals make their way into the wild plants growing at field edges, resulting in adult butterflies and moths drinking contaminated nectar and caterpillars feeding on contaminated plants. Many European countries have already banned these chemicals, it’s time for the UK to follow suit and put the natural world first. If we don’t act now to finally address the long-term drivers of butterfly decline, we will face extinction events never before seen in our lifetime.” More than 85,000 citizen scientists took part in Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count this year, submitting 143,241 Counts. This is equivalent to 35,810 hours, or four years worth of time spent counting, in gardens, parks, school grounds and the countryside. Dr Richard Fox concluded: “If every single person who helped with the Count this summer signs our letter to the Government, we could prevent the very real and pressing threat of species becoming extinct in our lifetime.” [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Enfield & Trent Park. 2 Comma [1 at 'Old Golf Course' Trent Park & 1 at a private site near Trent Park], 3 Green-veined White including a pair mating at a private site near Trent Park, 4 Meadow Brown at a private site near Trent Park, 3 Small Heath at a private site near Trent Park & 4 Small White at private sites near Trent Park. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Brown Hairstreak egg. Brown Hairstreak egg at Stanmore Country Park. [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Green-veined White at Trent Park. Female Green-veined White along Leeging Beech Gutter near 'Three Bridges' Trent Park this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
More Small Coppers. Today I visited Gustardwood Common north of Wheathampstead. This has always been a secondary site, but subject to significant habitat improvements in recent years. Heather and acid grassland was plentiful, but only 2 Small Coppers recorded plus 1 Silver Y, 4 Small Heath and 2 Commas. Slightly disappointed, I stopped at Nomansland Common on the way home and recorded 55 Small Coppers - more than double last weeks total. This species really does seem to be having a strong finish to the season this year. Half were nectaring and the other half engaged in courtship activities. No sign yet of egg laying [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Green-veined White & Small Heath at Enfield. Female Green-veined White flew into a spider's web & was caught by a spider & 1 Small Heath at a private site near Trent Park. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
More Small Coppers. At lunchtime I visited Patmore Heath near Albury, a HMWT reserve. Small Copper was the dominant species with 31 recorded. Most were nectaring, Devils-bit Scabious being the most popular flower at this site, with others on Ragwort and garden flowers from the surrounding houses. Only one courtship today, but plenty of aggression between competing males. Also on the wing Small Heath, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Speckled Wood, Comma, Red Admiral, Large, Small and Green-veined Whites [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Merry Hill Bushey. Another visit to Merry Hill Saturday saw a drop in numbers of butterflies, not entirely surprising with the temperatures dropping to near freezing during the week. Whites were the most common sighting with a mixture of Large and Small about 20 seen. Meadow Brown sightings down to 2, Small Heath 1, Red Admiral 1, Comma 3 and first spotted by Rick Small Copper 1. We had two glimpses of butterflies unidentified but no further sightings of a Brown Hairstreak. [Posted by Peter Fewell]
Return to Croxley Common Moor. After a disappointing year, pleased to have a much better day! 62 Small Coppers, my best total for this species for several years. Most nectaring on Ragwort and just one on Watermint and 7 courting couples. 11 Small Heath, 17 Small White plus Red Admiral, Comma, Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Comma at Trent Park. 1 Comma along Leeging Beech Gutter near 'Three Bridges' Trent Park & 2 female Meadow Brown at a private site near Trent Park this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Brown Hairstreak egg. Brown Hairstreak egg at Fryent Country Park. [Posted by Rohan Harris]
Therfield Heath. Bob and I visited Therfield Heath this afternoon mainly searching for our target species, Adonis Blue. In the end, we counted at least 10 males plus at least one female, all in the area between Two Hills and the cafe, eastern side of the path (TL346401). Also seen were 2+ female Chalk Hill Blue, 2 Common Blue, 20+ Meadow Brown, 1 Brown Argus, 1 Gatekeeper, 5+ Small White [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Trent Park. 2 Comma [1 edge of Moat Wd & 1 'Old Golf Course'], male Green-veined White at 'Old Golf Course', female Meadow Brown nectaring on Bramble blossom, edge of Moat Wd, 2 Painted Lady [1 nectaring on Bramble blossom, edge of Moat Wd & 1 nectaring on Ragwort, by lower lake], 2 Red Admiral edge of Moat Wd, female Small White edge of Moat Wd & 1 Speckled Wood at Water Grdn/Trent Park. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Hummingbird Hawk-moth. Just seen my first Hummingbird Hawk-moth of the year in my garden in South Harrow. Also, 1 Painted Lady, 3 Red Admiral, 1 Speckled Wood, 1 Green-veined White, 1 Large White and 1 Small White. [Posted by Michael Robinson]
Butterflies in northwest Hertfordshire. Liz Goodyear and I visited a woodland in northwest Hertfordshire where there were over 20 Commas feeding on softening blackberries. Also present were Speckled Woods, Large, Small and Green-veined Whites, Meadow Brown, Common Blue and Small Heath. [Posted by Andrew Wood]
Red Admiral at Enfield. 1 Red Admiral at a private site near Trent Park & 6 nectaring on ivy blossom along Flash Lane, EN2 this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Clouded Yellow. Male Clouded Yellow seen on my local patch close to Heathrow T5 and the River Colne. [Posted by DAVID MILLER]
Trip to Nomansland. 23 Small Coppers at Nomansland this afternoon. Most were nectaring on heather, with one couple mating. Numbers likely to build on this site over the next few weeks. Join me for a butterfly walk an end of season extravaganza on Sun 29th Sept, details on Events page. Also at this site today 4 Small Heath, 1 Burnished Brass, 28 Meadow Brown, 3 Comma and 2 Red Admiral [Posted by Malcolm Hull]
Trent Park. 5 Red Admiral [1 at a private site near Trent Park & 4 together along 'vista' between Rough Lot & Moat Wd/Trent Park], 1 Meadow Brown settled near Ride Wd/Trent Park - quite late, 1 Comma basking on ivy, edge of Water Grdn/Trent Park - caught & carried off by a European Hornet, male Green-veined White, edge of Icehouse Wd/Trent Park, 2 Speckled Wood [1 edge of Williams Wd & 1 edge of Shaws Wd/Trent Park]. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Double-striped Pug at Southgate. 1 Double-striped Pug at bus-stop shelter at Chase Road/Charter Way, N14 this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Southgate. 1 Common Marbled Carpet at ASDA Southgate this afternoon & 1 Yellow Shell at bus-stop shelter at Chase Road/Charter Way, N14 this morning. 3 Large White nectaring on buddleia & 1 Red Admiral at Southgate Chase Allotments & female Large White nectaring on buddleia at Chase Road, N14 near West Grove Primary School. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Latticed Heath at Enfield. 1 Latticed Heath at a private site near Trent Park this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Therfield Heath. On visiting Therfield Heath we travelled from the car park taking in the areas by the ancient barrows. We had already seen several Whites on the wing and the first of the Meadow Brown on the wing by the time we reached the barrows. Some parts had been cut back so narrowed our search a bit also the flowers had mostly gone over in the barrows area. We spotted a butterfly which was either a Small Copper or Small Heath but we lost sight to determine. We didn't see either species again Saturday. Although warm it remained stubbornly overcast on Saturday which probably contributed the the rather disappointing overall count. After heading past the rugby match to the slopes to the east we did eventually find our target species the Adonis Blue. First was a female and eventually we saw 3 males and Rick managed to spot a further female 5 in total with all looking in reasonable condition. The bonus turned out to be a single male Brimstone otherwise good numbers of Large and probably Small White and 25+ Meadow Brown with Rick tempting one on his finger. [Posted by Peter Fewell]
Silver Y at Southgate. 1 Silver Y at ASDA Southgate this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Painted Lady Parkland Walk South. I was rewarded for my efforts on my Parkland Walk South transect today by a pristine looking Painted Lady enjoying nectar from the large Buddleia on the bridge over Northwood Road N6 [Posted by Dee Cullen]
Painted Lady. Painted Lady seen this morning at Brent Reservoir. [Posted by Michael Robinson]
Cover crops around Brickendon. Had a little bit of sunshine this morning so went along the NNR path through Monks Green Farm. The cover crops next to the footpath have a great variety of flowering plants as do the surrounding meadows but the fodder radish is particularly popular right now with nectaring butterflies. Seen today was a very welcomed Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Small Copper (on nearby Ragwort), Small and Large Whites in numbers beyond counting. [Posted by Nathan Ellis]
Small Coppers. Two Small Coppers seen today on my transect at Alexandra Park. A welcome sight. In a couple of locations. Lonesome as nothing much else around. [Posted by Dee Cullen]
Double-striped Pug & L-album Wainscot at Gordon Hill Station & Light Emerald at Enfield Chase Station. 1 Double-striped Pug & 1 L-album Wainscot [a new species for me] at Gordon Hill Station & 1 Light Emerald [fresh] at Enfield Chase Station this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Box-tree Moth at Southgate. 1 Box-tree Moth at ASDA Southgate this afternoon. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Red Admiral on ivy. Red Admiral on flowering ivy Whittington Lane Stevenage. Hopefully more to see this autumn after a poor year so far [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Long-tailed Blue near Heathrow. While following my usual walk on my local patch near the western end of Heathrow Airport, between the M25 and the River Colne, I spotted a pale worn butterfly chasing Small Heaths and a Common Blue. It settled and only after looking at photos I took of it was I able to confirm that it was a male Long-Tailed Blue. [Posted by DAVID MILLER]
Copyright on News form. The vast majority of photos are of butterflies which require copyright. However, there are some which do not, like the two images below. Clicking the 'Initialise Copyright' button fills the Copyright fields at the bottom of the page below the Caption fields with the Name specified. The Copyright fields can be amended or cleared (as in this example). There is no need to clear the Copyright fields for photos not to be uploaded e.g. if only Photo 1 is used to upload, the Copyright fields for Photo 2 and Photo 3 can be left unchanged. [Posted by Peter Clarke]
Common Marbled Carpet at Enfield. 1 Common Marbled Carpet seen in flight & settled at a private site near Trent Park this morning. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]
Garden, Ebury Way and Croxley Moor. While Pete was off on Merry Hill again, I was enjoying the sunny delights of my back garden, which was quite full for a change, with Large and Small White, Red Admiral and Comma (one of each seen). That was just the morning, afternoon came and we decided to check some of the places in-between where eggs or adults had been seen of the Brown Hairstreak. So, from Riverside Road we walked down towards Hampermill Lane, then back up the Ebury Way - plenty of Blackthorn, but no BHS seen. We did see plenty of whites, mostly Large, (10+) and Speckled Woods (5+) and a Comma, before we got to Croxley Moor. When we got to the Moor, it was quite the hive activity with 12+ whites, 5 Red Admiral, 5 Holly Blues (more than I've seen all year!), 2 Small Copper, 1 Speckled Wood, 15+ Meadow Brown and 30+ Small Heaths. [Edited by Peter Clarke] [Posted by Rick Vickers]
Merry Hill Bushey. On a quick scout from my flat in Bushey to Merry Hill, first searching the area I found a female B Hairstreak on Friday. I wasn't successful in that zone only seeing 4 Small Heath, 2 Meadow Brown. I then backtracked towards the upper entrance of Merry Hill and explored the bit that is closest to my flat. There wasn't so much blackthorn to explore but found a suitable patch nice and sheltered. Clocked a butterfly over bramble which I expected to be a Meadow Brown, well it turned out to be Brown Hairstreak. Whether it was the same female I saw Friday is debatable as she was in similar condition. I couldn't get a focus on her egg laying but in this photo her left palp indicated the direction of travel, which happened to be in the out of bounds zone the other side of the hedge. She seemed to deposit an egg just over 2ft off the ground at TQ 1363, 9421. Other butterflies seen 1 Red Admiral, Whites 7 mostly Large with a further 6+ sighted along Merry Hill Road. I even managed to get a photo of a Large White not to far from the B. Hairstreak sighting. They don't often stay still enough for a photo! [Posted by Peter Fewell]
Enfield Town. 1 Painted Lady, 1 Red Admiral & 1 Small White at Town Park, Enfield this afternoon & 1 Red Admiral along New River at Enfield Town, 1 Snout near Parsonage Lane, Enfield Town. [Posted by Robert Mark Callf]