20 Wildlife Wonders

Water voles

The water vole is Britain's fastest declining mammal. The animal, famous as the character Ratty in Wind in the Willows, has suffered considerably as its habitats have been destroyed and it has been preyed on by the feral American mink.

Many of London's waterways and marshes remain a stronghold for the species, however, and a special project officer has been appointed at the London Wildlife Trust to make sure it stays that way. Vole hotspots include the London Wetland Centre and the following rivers: the Crane, the Roding, the Ingrebourne, the Hogsmill and the Cray.

Find out more
London Water Vole Project
The Wildlife Trusts factsheet, Water voles

Bats

Bats Bats - the only mammals to have evolved flight - can make a spectacular sight in the night sky. However, London's bats have declined worryingly over the last decade. Some experts fear this is due to the impact of light pollution, as bats need a proportion of naturally dark land at night to move around in. The best way to see bats is on a guided bat walk.

Find out more
Bat Conservation Trust
London Bat Group
The Wildlife Trusts factsheet, Bats

Deer

Deer There are herds of deer in many of London's parks, which add a sense of timelessness to these open spaces. Most of the deer living in places like Richmond Park are the descendents of herds managed long ago for hunting. The larger deer are generally red deer, and the smaller spotted ones are fallow deer.

The only truly wild deer in London is the Roe, found mainly in parts of the green belt, where it is becoming a pest to farmers and foresters. Muntjac deer can also be found in London - a Chinese species that was originally kept in captivity, but has now spread over much of lowland England. It is a surprisingly small deer which often goes unnoticed, but has been seen in several inner London sites, including the Parkland Walk in north London.

Listen to the roar of a red deer stag in Richmond Park

Find out more
The British Deer Society
The London Wildlife Trust factsheet, Living with deer

Grazing animals

Sheep Grazing animals - cattle and sheep - are crucial in the management of some of our more traditional landscapes. Most open grassland, heaths and commons in London were once grazed, often by large numbers of animals which eventually ended up in livestock markets like Smithfields. To see grazing cattle today, you can visit a number of outer London sites such as Bentley Priory, Epping Forest, Trent Park, Poor's Field in Ruislip Woods, Farthing Downs in Croydon, Hounslow Heath or the London Wetland Centre.

Find out more
South Downs Virtual Information Centre
Grazing in Lee Valley Park

Foxes

Fox The fox is a small member of the dog family which began to enter urban areas from the countryside after World War II. Foxes soon spread throughout suburban London where they discovered safety and food. Pairing takes place in late winter, at which time vixens (female foxes) give an eerie scream which can sound a lot like a person in distress!

Find out more
National Fox Welfare Society
GardenWildlife.co.uk
The London Wildlife Trust factsheet, Living with foxes

Slow-worm

The slow-worm is in fact a lizard that in the process of evolution has lost its legs. The most common reptile in London, slow-worms are gentle creatures and a friend to gardeners, as they eat slugs. They are often found at the margins of allotments, on railway embankments and other rough grassy places. They spend a long period of their year hibernating deep in grass tussocks, among tree roots and even in compost heaps.

Find out more
ARKive
London Biodiversity Partnership

House sparrow

Sparrow Londoners have recently been asking the question 'Where have all our sparrows gone?'. The 'Cockney Sparrer' is a lot rarer than it used to be, and no one is quite sure why. Theories include the birds' health, food availability and pollution, and the Mayor of London is leading an action plan to find out what the problem is.

Listen to house sparrow calls

Find out more
London Biodiversity Partnership factsheet, Where have all our sparrows gone?
Birds of Britain

Peregrine

The fastest bird in the world, the peregrine falcon is a welcome recent arrival to London's skies. Normally nesting in coastal cliffs and in mountain areas, peregrine have taken to breeding on tall buildings and preying on a wide range of birds including pigeons. One or two pairs are known to breed each year in the capital, and they can sometimes be seen around the chimney of the Tate Modern, or over Regent's Park.

Listen to a female peregrine calling from the nest

Find out more
London Biodiversity Partnership (including a factsheet on nesting on buildings in London)

Grey heron

The grey heron is the largest European heron and is doing well in London, mainly as a result of the improving quality of London's lakes and waterways. Although they are solitary birds, standing alone and motionless on river banks or shores for considerable lengths of time, they breed colonially in heronries such as those on lake islands in Regent's and Battersea Parks, The Leg O'Mutton nature reserve in Richmond and at Walthamstow Reservoirs. The London Biodiversity Partnership organises a London Heron Day in the spring.

Listen to grey heron flight calls

Find out more
RSPB

Kingfisher

The brilliant turquoise flash as a kingfisher flies by would bring a thrill to anyone's riverside walk. London's improved water quality has favoured this handsome bird and it is now a regular spectacle on waterways in the Lea, Colne, Crane and Wandle valleys, as well as the New River and along many of London's quieter canal stretches.

Listen to kingfisher calls

Find out more
Birds of Britain

Sand martin

Sand martins return to us early each spring from their long winter holidays spent in Africa. These dainty little aviators fly thousands of miles to breed here in large family colonies, which appear as a honeycomb of little holes in exposed sand faces. Purpose-built sand martin nests are being provided to encourage breeding, at places such as the London Wetland Centre, where the chicks may be viewed inside their nests via a specially created walk-in sandbank.

Listen to sand martin

Find out more
London Wetland Centre
London Biodiversity Partnership

Swift

Swift An excited family of swifts twisting and turning over the rooftops is a sure sign that summer is here. However, these most aerobatic of birds are believed to be declining due to modern methods of roof building - a swift nest in your roof is now something to be proud of. Only in London for around three months in the summer, Swifts gather to feed in especially large numbers over wetlands where there are large concentrations of flying insects.

Listen to swifts in a London street

Find out more
London Swifts

Black redstart

Black redstart This nationally rare breeding bird with its fiery red tail is more likely to be seen in London's abandoned docks, wharves and wastelands than anywhere else in the country. However, as new development replaces its preferred haunts, the redstart is being squeezed out. With the introduction of more 'green roofs', and suitable landscaping in new developments, the bird may be able to hang on in its favoured areas along the Thames in east London and the Lea Valley. Perhaps the best chance of seeing a black redstart is at Deptford Creek in Lewisham.

Listen to black redstart song

Find out more
Creekside Centre
BlackRedstarts.org.uk
Living Roofs - working to promote roof terraces, roof gardens and green roofs across London

Stag beetle

The stag beetle is the largest British insect, and gets its name from the male's large mandibles (or jaws), which look like antlers. London holds nationally important populations, most visible on warm summer evenings. The stag beetle lays its eggs in dead wood - contributing to the natural recycling of the wood and helping to enrich the soil. Special reserves have been selected for them - in Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common - and they are particularly common in south London gardens. If you see a stranded stag beetle, help it towards a nearby tree or bush.

Find out more
London Biodiversity Partnership
Photos of flying stag beetles
People's Trust for Endangered Species
Wikipedia - stridulation

Join the Stag Beetle Hunt

Butterflies

London has a wide range of butterflies which can be seen across the capital. Chalkhill blue, small blue, green hairstreak, holly blue, marbled white, peacock, speckled wood and white admiral are all found here. The Camberwell beauty was first reported in the UK in 1748 near the London neighbourhood of the same name, but is now a rare visitor to Britain. The best places to see butterflies are London's woodlands, heathlands and the chalk grasslands.

Find out more
Butterfly Conservation

Woods, heaths and chalk

Flowers Carpets of wild flowers in the spring and summer can be a wonderful sight. London offers the chance to see many wild flowers, from the quintessentially English scene of bluebells in a wood, to heather on the heathlands and the colourful spread of flowers on well-managed chalk downland.

Ancient bluebell woodlands can be found in Ruislip Woods National Nature Reserve, Kings Wood in Croydon and Oxleas Woods in Greenwich. Wild daffodils and wood anemones create another springtime spectacle in Lesnes Abbey Woods. Heather, flowering much later in the year, is found on Wimbledon and Putney Commons, Hayes Common in Bromley and Addington Hills in Croydon.

The North Downs of south London are the best place for chalkland flowers, including Farthing Downs, Happy Valley and Riddlesdown in Croydon, and Saltbox Hill, West Kent Golf Course and Downe Bank in Bromley. As well as wild thyme and marjoram, a range of orchids grows in these soils.

Find out more
Ruislip Woods
Farthing Downs, Devilsden Wood and Happy Valley
Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath
London Biodiversity Partnership

Wastelands

Flowers Many of London's brownfield and wasteland sites are now being reclaimed by wildlife. Their unusual history can make them home to a range of special plants and animals, including a variety of colourful flowers such as Ox-eye Daisy and Rosebay Willowherb. Many exotic species can be found, which enable us to trace the cultural and historic background of the sites. Explore these habitats at your local wasteland or at the Wandle Meadow Nature Park, The Ripple, Gillespie Park or Deptford Creek.

Find out more
London Biodiversity Partnership
London Wildlife Trust's Brownfield? Greenfield? The threat to London's unofficial countryside

Hornbeam

The closest thing to a native tree for London, the hornbeam's grey, sinewy trunks form dense stands in many older woodlands, such as Ruislip Woods, Heriots Wood in Bentley Priory, Oxleas Woods and Hatters Wood. Hornbeam wood is very hard, and was once used for rifle butts and the cogs on mill wheels. The wood was harvested from the tree along sustainable lines, either by 'coppicing' (cutting close to the ground) or 'pollarding' (cutting higher up out of reach of cattle). Fine examples of ancient pollards can be seen in Hainault Forest and parts of Epping Forest.

Find out more
The Wildlife Trusts
British Trees
The Corporation of London - Epping Forest

Oak

Oak The English oak is common throughout London and the British Isles. It is perhaps our most well-known and best-loved tree and gives its name to many London places including Gospel Oak, Honor Oak, Royal Oak and Acton (meaning 'oak farm'). Ancient oaks can be found at many sites, with some of the best at Bentley Priority and Richmond Park.

Find out more
UK Safari

Wild Service

Tree This is a tree with London connections, as it likes the clay soils which are so common in the capital. Wild service is uncommon nationally and this tree is sometimes mistaken for a maple as both have rich autumn colours. Also known as the Chequer Tree, its large brown-red berries were used to make a kind of beer called 'Chequers'. This is the origin of the common pub name 'The Chequers' or 'The Chequer Tree'.

Find out more
British Trees

Discover more about the importance of wildlife and wild places.

Search within wildlife sites by one of the following methods or use the Map.
Postcode or District:
Site name:
Borough:
Habitat:
Search text: