HNHS Award winners announced at Autumn Conference
Congratulations to our 2026 HNHS Award winners: Ian Denholm (left), presented with the Trevor James Award for an outstanding Hertfordshire naturalist and Malcolm Hull, who received the 1875 Award for an outstanding contribution to Hertfordshire natural history.
Ian's award recognises a 40-year contribution to knowledge about the county's plants and wildlife, including his particular expertise in botany that has made him a national authority on orchids. Malcolm is the Chair of the Herts and Middlesex branch of Butterfly Conservation since 2015 and whose important contribution to butterfly recording has been matched by enthusiasm for sharing his knowledge with policy makers and community conservation groups.
The awards were presented at the Autumn Conference on Saturday 7 November at the Affinity Water offices in Hatfield, attended by almost 80 members and friends. Further website information about both winners and can be found on our HNHS Awards pages.
Autumn Conference and 2026 AGM - Saturday 7 November
Members and friends are warmly invited to join us for the 2026 Autumn Meeting and Annual General Meeting on Saturday 7 November at the offices of Affinity Water, Tamblin Way, Hatfield, AL10 9EZ (2-5.30pm).
The featured speakers this year are Martin Ketcher, voluntary warden of the Purwell Nine Springs nature reserve in Hitchin for 46 years and Wendy Morrison, Director of the Chilterns Heritage & Archaeology Partnership. Winners of the annual HNHS awards will be announced.
HNHS Award nominations: 2026
Members are invited to submit nominations for the HNHS 2026 Awards, which will be presented at the Autumn Conference on Saturday 7 November.
Our two annual categories are the Trevor James Award for an outstanding Hertfordshire Naturalist and the 1875 Award for an outstanding contribution to natural history in Hertfordshire. Further information – including information about past winners – can be found on this website, together with a one page nomination form that covers the main criteria.
Clouded Yellow butterfly sightings amid continuing drought
Appearances in Britain of the beautiful migrant Clouded Yellow butterfly are unpredictable, although arrivals from the Mediterranean usually coincide with hot weather. Amid continuing drought, 2026 looks like being a particularly good year for them in Hertfordshire.
Photographer Ashley Cox found five flying in the eastern meadows of Heartwood on 30 July and was able to obtain impressive images of a female and male in flight.
Hertfordshire Dragonfly Atlas Update
We are now in the first few days of June in the penultimate years of the new six year Hertfordshire Dragonfly Atlas Survey which is planned to run until the end of 2027.
Since the current survey period began in 2022, over 320 observers have contributed just over 14,000 records of 32 species, which is an amazing achievement. For context, the six years of the previous survey, from 2000 to 2005 produced 14,671 records of 22 species that were submitted by 119 recorders.