Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus) ♂ today in Bengeo garden. @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Large Skipper on a Pyramidal Orchid, Panshanger Park, Hertford, 09/06/2026 @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Small Skippers, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral in Panshanger Park, Hertford, 09/06/2026 @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Excellent news day!

Come along todayto Ware Priory for Ware's Biodiversity Day 11-4. Plant your own Moon Garden with help from #WareinBloom @savebutterflies.bsky.social Its free and there's lots to see!! #teammoth

Brimstone last weekend at Heartwood

With numbers of Painted Ladies (distelvlinder, V cardui) rising on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects, it's a good moment to put this invasion in perspective. The graph shows a small influx, comparable with 1996 and 2003, and smaller than 2009 and 2019. But lets see how it continues.

A first family outing to Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire this morning. What a place. Plenty of Black Hairstreaks, one newly-emerged White Admiral and a Norfolk Hawker. All put on iRecord. @bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social @britishdragonflies.bsky.social

Speckled Wood, Large Skipper, Red-necked Footman and Small Heath, HMWT Balls Wood, Hertford, 31/05/2026 @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Holly Blue, Hertford, 30/05/2026 @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Yesterday at Heartwood Forest with @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social and The Woodland Trust. Pictured Small Blue, Large Skipper, Painted Lady, Small Heath. @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Large Skipper, Panshanger Park, Hertford, 28/05/2026 @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Painted Lady, Panshanger Park, Hertford, 29/05/2026 @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Great footage of Brown Hairstreak larva interacting with ants on tonights Springwatch. Starts @42 minutes @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Painted Lady enjoying the evening sunshine in my Stevenage garden @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social #PaintedLady

Grizzled Skipper at Waterford Heath today. @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social

Common Blue, Small Heath and Small Copper, Panshanger Park, Hertford,24/05/2026 @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Brimstone feeding on bramble. Panshanger Park, Hertford, 23/05/2026 @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social

Spent a couple of glorious hours at Hexton Chalk Pits this morning. Had the place all to myself. As well as Dingy Skipper, Burnet Companion Moth and Small Heath I saw Green Hairstreak - which, alas, eluded my camera. @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social

Hey, please can you sign this urgent petition. The nature and wildlife we all love: birds, bees, hedgehogs - are being silently poisoned by a group of powerful chemical companies making billions selling toxic pesticides and fertilisers. The UK government can stop this! @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Roosting Orange Tip, Panshanger Park, Hertford, 10/05/2026 @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social

Speckled Wood in Panshanger Park, Hertford, 08/05/2026 @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social @hnhsoc.bsky.social

Thank you #FriendsofTowerHamletsCemeteryPark for organising the walk!

Roosting Green-veined White, Panshanger Park, Hertford, 07/05/2026 @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

40 species last night in Bengeo including Chocolate-tip (Clostera curtula). @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social #teammoth

Peacock enjoying today’s sunshine in Hammersmith Park, London W12. @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Brown Argus, Panshanger Park, Hertford, 27/04/2026 @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social @hnhsoc.bsky.social @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

My annual spring trip to Waterford heath, Hertford for Grizzled Skipper, I find them harder than I used to but managed to get 2 on the north pit

Pair of Small Coppers (FOY) Norton Green Stevenage - female pictured @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social #SmallCopper

A nice bimble on Therfield Heath in the late afternoon sun - box-fresh Brown Argus maybe Herts' first of the year, Small Coppers always a pleasure, and the earliest county record by a week of the localised Small Purple-barred moth. And just now, at home, Swiiiiiiiift!!! @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

Grizzled Skippers, Waterford Heath, Herts, 24/04/2026 @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

FIRST REPORT: Small Heath - 23 April '26. Essex

My VC20 garden excelled itself last night with being bad, but I knew the conditions had been poor, so 2:2 macro didn't surprise me!!! However, spirits were lifted when I saw a roosting male Orange-tip on a garlic mustard flower. #teammoth @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social

UKBMS volunteers have walked a total of >1.5 million kilometres since 1976 at more than 7,600 sites to produce this incredible dataset. That’s the equivalent of walking 40 times around the world – or to the moon and back twice. Latest annual results: www.ukbms.org 3/3

Extraordinary dataset of 44 million+ records of UK #butterflies collected by 782,000 volunteers in the past 50 years shows many species are in long-term decline eg Pearl-bordered Fritillary. @ukbms.bsky.social is run by @savebutterflies.bsky.social, UKCEH, @btobirds.bsky.social, and JNCC. 🧪 1/

Guided walks in 2026. More information coming soon on planned walks this summer at: Magog Down, Devil's Dyke (Newmarket), Bradfield Woods (Suffolk, TBC), Woodwalton Fen, Claybury Park, and Hadleigh.

Listen to @upperthames.bsky.social Nick Bowles on R4 Today this morning

Late news. Sorry Large Tortoiseshell was seen by Rob, the Essex butterfly recorder, 7th April. At Warley Country Park, Essex. (TQ584927)

Sunday 12th April, saw the official opening of the new footbridge at #Millhoppers_Reserve, and included the unveiling of a plaque to the memory of John & Margaret Noakes, founding members of the branch and the first wardens of the reserve. @savebutterflies.bsky.social #Dacorum_borough_council

My first Speckled Wood and Orange-tip of the year - at Norton Green (Knebworth Woods transect) plus a nice Green-veined White in Wintergreen Wood @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social #SpeckledWood #Orange-tip

It's time to look out for Green Hairstreak - several reports around the country!

Did you miss our last winter zoom talk last night? It was excellent! Iconic species of the Pyrenees including a once in a lifetime find with Roger Gibbons youtu.be/nfnxFoZn80Q Not only were we treated to some fabulous photos but some serious info on the Southern Small White including identification

17 species recorded last night in Bengeo including Streamer (Anticlea derivata), Pale Pinion (Lithophane socia), Frosted Green (Polyploca ridens) & Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria). @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social #teammoth

Remember this year the week starts on a Wednesday - good luck everyone!!

Welcome to Bluesky!

Our walks programme starts in a few weeks. Take time to read this advice - Lyme Disease should be taken seriously! @savebutterflies.bsky.social

WILD ABOUT DACORUM - a community event on the 2nd April 6.30 to 8pm. As a branch we are committed to supporting Councils becoming butterfly friendly, please join branch representatives to help pass on that message. Scan the QR code to book your tickets. @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Just over the border.....

Comma and Peacock enjoying the sunshine in Panshanger Park, 19/03/2026 @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertswildlifetrust.bsky.social

Live in Herts or NW London + love spotting butterflies? We need volunteers to survey butterfly transects in the area. You'll need to be able to ID butterflies, walk a 1km transect once each week, or in a rota with others. See comments for more details on the sites... @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social