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Spotlight on spring wildlife

  • 5 days ago
  • 6 min read

What you may see in the park this spring

With 10,000 acres of habitat the wildlife changes with the seasons and offers an array of things to look out for.



Wildlife

The park is renowned for its important and protected habitats and the species that make them their home – some highlights that you may see from March to May are:

 

  • Sand Martin are the smallest member of the swallow and martin family and return from their African wintering grounds each year to breed. They can be seen hunting for insects over our waterways. They nest in colonies, excavating nest holes into the sandy banks of rivers, at Tottenham Marshes they nest in drainage holes on the banks of the Pymmes Brook.


  • Whilst the majority of butterflies overwinter as eggs or larvae some, including the Peacock, overwinter as adults in cool dark locations such as holes in trees. We often find them in WWII Pill Boxes that have been converted into bat hibernacula such as at Green Lane, Hall Marsh Scrape or Gunpowder Park. As soon as the weather starts to warm the butterflies emerge seeking out early sources of nectar to feed on.


  • Swifts as they return from Africa to start their breeding season, listen out for their ‘screaming’ calls as they feed on insects. They can be seen across the valley feasting on the insects especially over waterbodies. We’ve installed Swift boxes in the walls of the Lee Valley Ice Centre and play recordings of their calls to draw them in, hopefully one day they'll nest here. Read more >


  • Nightingale are secretive birds known for their melodic song who love scrubby or coppiced woodland. They are Red Listed due to their decline in numbers – there has been an estimated 42% decline in breeding numbers over the past 30 years. They return to the park each spring having spent the winter in west Africa, a great place to listen and look out for them is Fishers Green


  •  Barn Owls can be seen quartering the grasslands on the hunt for their prey of small mammals. If walking the park pathway from Fishers Green to Clayton Hill in River Lee Country Park keep an eye out over the farmland particularly at dusk



  • House Sparrow are small noisy social birds that can be found in the park all year round. Sadly, their populations are in decline globally but can still be found throughout the park – listen out for their noisy ‘cheep cheep’ call as they gather together in bushes.


  • Skylark with their distinctive small crest and streaky brown feathers are known for their aerobatics, being able to fly vertically in the air. Their long rising and falling warbling song, is so evocative of this time of year.  They are a Red List species (which means it’s in critical danger) and are year-round residents in the park, loving our farmland and grassland areas on Gunpowder Park, where they nest on the ground.


  • The distinctive call of the Cuckoo heralds the start of spring as they return from their African wintering grounds. They lay their egg in another birds nest, it hatches after 12 days and pushes out the hosts eggs and chicks so that it gets all of its adoptive parents’ attention. A great place listen for their calls are Glen Faba or Cornmill Meadows


  • Pollinators such as bumblebees come out of hibernation and start to do their great work pollinating the spring flowers. The park is a haven for such species and they can been seen hard at work up and down the park. Look out for the scarce Brown-banded Carder bumblebee, the queen emerges from hibernation from April onwards.


  • When temperatures start to warm in spring Grass Snake become more active. It’s a good time to see them, they are cold blooded and need to bask in the sun to warm up. They are excellent swimmers and can often be seen alongside ditches, rivers or lakes gracefully sliding into the water if disturbed. They hunt their prey of frogs, toads and newts amongst the many wetlands of the Lee Valley.


  • Frogspawn can be found in ponds in early spring (even earlier in milder winters). It forms a large clump of jelly - if you see a string of spawn then this is toad spawn. The black dots will hatch after about three weeks, feeding on the jelly before moving on to algae and then small insects. Frogs can lay up to 2-3000 eggs per year but only a small percentage make it to adulthood, the others fall prey to predators such as fish, newts and dragonfly larvae. It’s important not to move frogspawn between ponds as this can spread diseases.


  •  As the days warm look out for damselflies, newly emerged from ponds and lakes where they spend up to two years as larvae before they climb up emergent vegetation and undertake an incredible metamorphosis into their adult form. Smaller and more delicate than dragonflies, damselflies have a more fluttering flight and hold their wings closed along their bodies as they rest. The Blue-tailed Damselfly is a common species – named after the blue segment towards the end of its abdomen and can be found across the park. Head to Cornmill Meadows Dragonfly Sanctuary, Amwell Nature Reserve, or WaterWorks Nature Reserves to see a range of species that emerge across the spring and summer months.

 


Flora

The open spaces burst back into life in spring, from the buds on the trees bring back their leafy canopies to flowers in wildflower meadows making a reappearance. Notable for spring are:

  • Cuckooflower so named as it blooms from April onwards, coinciding with the arrival of Cuckoos. With its delicate pale pink flowers it’s easy to see why they are also called Lady’s Smock– they love damp meadows, ditches and river banks. In the park you can see these flowers on the floodplain meadows at Silvermeade, Cornmill Meadows and Walthamstow Marshes



  • Coltsfoot is an early sign of spring, flowering in February and March. Unlike most plants the flowers which look similar to dandelions and have a scaly stem, are visible long before the leaves emerge and are an important early source of nectar for pollinators.  Visit the same location in summer and only their distinctive leaves will be visible.  


  • Another bright yellow flower of early spring is the Lesser Celandine, a low-growing member of the buttercup family. There is also a flower called Greater Celandine but don’t be fooled as they are unrelated with the Greater Celandine belonging to the poppy family. Lesser Celandine can be found across the park from shaded woody areas to alongside ditches and in meadows.


  • In early spring Blackthorn trees across the park burst into flower – covered in bright white flowers before the leaves appear. Watch out though as the Blackthorn has sharp spikes and forms dense thickets – perfect for wildlife.


  • Alder trees thrive in damp conditions and are found across the valley.  The male catkins which dangle off the tree in early spring provide an important early source of nectar. The small red upright female catkins turn into dark cones once fertilised.


  • Those that suffer from hayfever will be well aware of the abundance of pollen produced by grasses.  The flower heads of Yorkshire Fog can be seen from May onwards, look out for their purple hue across grasslands. The base of their stems have a purple stripe – people often say they are wearing striped pyjamas! It is the main foodplant of the Small Skipper butterfly.

 

 

Working for wildlife

Throughout the year, our teams work maintain the diverse and important habitats in the park.

 


Here is the list of projects our biodiversity team are working on this year

  • Installing two new rafts on Seventy Acres Lake in River Lee Country Park.

  • Owl box checks

  • Orchid surveys

  • Heronries census

  • Water vole surveys

  • Monitoring breeding wading birds

  • Dragonfly survey

  • Butterfly surveys

  • Moth events

 

You can read more about our work here

 

Upcoming planned events

Throughout the year the park runs special wildlife themed events. Up coming events include

  • Water Voles and Wetlands – Date to be set

  • BioBlitz – summer

  • Bee focused event – summer

  • London Rivers Week – October

  • Love the Lea - October

  • Bittern Roost Watch – January 2027

 

The park will also be at the Global Bird Fair (10 – 12 July) held in Rutland.


 

Know the latest

If you want to be kept up to date with our events or wildlife sign why not sign up to our enewsletters. We have specific enewsletters so you only get sent information of interest to you. Find out more and sign up today >

 

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