Covid-19: Act carefully and remain cautious (updated 19 July 2021)
Although most legal restrictions designed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 have been lifted, the number of infections in England is high and increasing. HNHS urges everyone enjoying and recording wildlife to continue to act carefully near other people, remain cautious and take note of Government advice.
Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus) Cheshunt Park, July 2021 © Paul Gymer
We promote the study and recording of wildlife in Hertfordshire and encourage a wider interest in natural history including the conservation of wildlife, habitats and geological features.
Our members share an interest in nature and observing and studying wildlife. We get real value from your observations by coordinating and compiling everyone?s records to build up a comprehensive picture of the state of wildlife in the county. This helps us understand how it is changing over time in response to the pressures of modern life and climate change.
Photos of Hertfordshire wildlife can be found in the photo galleries here and in the Flora group and Bird Club websites. We welcome submissions of good-quality images of birds and of all other wildlife seen and photographed in Hertfordshire.
All the latest natural history news can be found on our news page. The latest and past newsletters can be downloaded here.
We have been studying and documenting the natural history of our county for 145 years. We endeavour to cover all branches of natural history relevant to Hertfordshire.
We encourage wildlife recording. You can submit your records on line for birds, for mammals, amphibians, reptiles and dragonflies and for plants, view the latest sightings and sightings archive (from 2010). Learn more about our objectives.
We have a network of 26 county wildlife recorders who are experts in their field and collate the records for specific groups, such as birds, mammals, insects and flowers. Their reports are published in our annual journals, The Hertfordshire Naturalist and The Hertfordshire Bird Report. We also publish books on specific subjects,
We have specialist groups that focus on birds, moths and flora and close links with other local groups such as Butterfly Conservation.
Membership is open to anyone, whether or not you live in the county.
The Society's Trevor James Award for an outstanding Hertfordshire naturalist and 1875 Award for an individual who has made an outstanding contributions to natural history in Hertfordshire are presented at the Autumn Meeting each year.
The Society depends on voluntary donations and annual subscriptions from members all of which are devoted entirely to carrying out our work, as all officers are honorary.
Data and protection and privacy: Submission of a wildlife record or photograph creates data which may be classed as personal information. Our Privacy Policy explains how the HNHS and Herts Bird Club comply with their data protection obligations towards their members and the wider public.
Safeguarding: We offer family membership and welcome children under 16 to our activities provided they are supervised by a parent or responsible adult at all times. We encourage members to read our policy on safeguarding children, young people under 18 and vulnerable adults, which is reviewed annually.
Hertfordshire Mammal, Amphibian and Reptile Atlas
Herts Invertebrate Project
Heartwood Monitoring Project
To keep informed about HNHS, follow us on Facebook and Twitter and look at the stunning photographs on our Flickr page.
The success of the HNHS and Herts Bird Club websites depends on the skills and dedication of many people, for which we are very grateful; we should particularly like to acknowledge the excellent work of the photographers.
Neither HNHS nor Herts Bird Club is equipped to help, please follow these links for advice on what to do:
The RSPCA the national charity that gives help and advice on sick and injured birds and animals.
The RSPB has advice on injured and orphaned birds.
Tiggywinkles and the Swan Sanctuary have advice and also take in wild birds in need of care.
The Quekett Microscopial Club – the UK's 'learned society' for everyone interested in microscopes and microscopy – is bringing its annual exhibition to Hertfordshire in October.
Normally held at the Natural History Museum in London, the exhibition features exquisite images of wildlife and the natural world that are too small to be perceived by the human eye alone.
Work to reintroduce the impressive Southern Wood Ant (Formica rufa) to Hertfordshire has resumed this spring at Bishop's Wood near Rickmansworth.
Until the reintroduction programme started in 2019, the species had not been recorded in the county since the 1950s. Nests have been relocated from Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire (where the species is plentiful) through a partnership between Three Rivers Council, Hertfordshire County Council's Countryside Management Service and Phil Attewell, county ant recorder and last year's winner of the HNHS 1875 Award for an outstanding Hertfordshire naturalist.
An entire night huddled in the garden listening for over-flying ducks, leaning from a bedroom window to hear Whimbrel and an extravagant cry of 'YES!' on sighting a Starling were among the more eccentric moments of 'lockdown birding' recalled at the 2021 Herts Bird Conference on Saturday 20 March.
Yet despite outdoor movement restrictions in response to the Covid pandemic, the number of species seen in Hertfordshire in 2020 is expected to equal the 198 recorded the previous year and may – once rarity verfication is complete – pass the 200 mark.
The conference, jointly organised by the Herts Bird Club and British Trust for Ornithology – drew an online audience of over a hundred who heard how the lockdown had stimulated bird watching and recording, even though travel was largely banned. No fewer than 23,000 records were submitted – an increase of 6,000 on the previous highest total.
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