The Big Butterfly Count is a nationwide survey aimed at helping assess the health of our environment, and the largest butterfly survey in the world. It was launched in 2010 and an impressive 10,000 people took part, counting 210,000 butterflies and day-flying moths across the nation. Over 113,500 people took part in 2019, counting nearly 1.6 million individual butterflies and day-flying moths across the UK (see the 2019 results). This year’s Big Butterfly Count is taking place from Friday 17 July to Sunday 9 August 2020. The survey is run by the charity Butterfly Conservation. To take part, simply count…
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Petra Sovic Davies of the London Wildlife Trust writes: London Wildlife Trust is pleased to announce that the first guide to the capital’s dragonflies, titled Today I saw a demoiselle: Dragonflies and damselflies of London, is now available! This guide is a result of four years of surveys and data collection, a huge joint effort of the project team and enthusiastic volunteers. The guide celebrates and marks the completion of the Trust’s “Water for Wildlife” project. To find out more about the project, and to read the guide, see the London Wildlife Trust website. You can also download the guide…
Local spider expert Edward Milner writes: My regular surveys of spiders and beetles in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and Mile End Park have reavealed six additions to the Cemetery Park list, and two at Mile End Park. These have all been identified by beetle expert Norman Heal. New beetles in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park Anthicus antherinus (see photo above) is a tiny, beautiful ant-like flower beetle in the family Anthicidae, trapped on Scrapyard Meadow in May 2019. Anthicus species are omnivorous, eating pollen and also (very) small insects like small springtails and possibly juvenile spiders. We already had a much…
Local spider expert Edward Milner writes: When I’m carrying out my regular surveys for spiders and beetles in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, my pitfall traps sometimes catch centipedes. When they do, I send these to Tony Barber, one of the very few British centipede experts, for identification. This year, we have added three new species to the Cemetery Park centipede list: Geophilus flavus, Geophilus electricus and Haplophilus subterraneus. Because so few people study centipedes, individual species don’t have English names. Geophilus flavus (see header photo) is a large (to 45 mm), bright yellow centipede with a darker reddish head, with…
Andy Smith of Harbinger Primary School writes: Last year, Harbinger Primary School was awarded a Tower Habitats biodiversity grant from the Tower Hill Trust, with the aim of improving our grounds for wildlife and environmental education. The two key elements of the project were to enhance wildlife habitats in and around our pond, and to put up boxes (like the sparrow terrace in the photo left) to attract birds, bats and insects to the school. We now have most of this in place, though, due to problems with foxes and latterly with delays due to the Coronavirus emergency, we still…
Local botanist John Swindells writes: Every year the Wild Flower Society encourages its members to take part in a Spring Week Hunt for wild plants in flower during the first week of March. This year I achieved my best total in 20 years – 98 species – partly because I spent more time looking but also, I suspect, because of the mild, albeit very wet, winter. Of these, 87 were from Tower Hamlets (with the other 11 from nearby Newham or Waltham Forest). My best scores, as you might expect were from Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Mile End Park and…
Michelle Lindson of the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park writes: In March/April 2019, “Nature and Us”, a community project by The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park (FoTHCP), delivered a “Growing and Knowing Wildflowers” course at Stepney City Farm. The course ran for six weeks and was a huge success, benefiting FoTHCP, Stepney City Farm and local participants. To build on this, FoTHCP and Stepney City Farm jointly and successfully applied for a Tower Habitats biodiversity grant from the Tower Hill Trust, for FoTHCP to deliver another wild flower course at the Farm. This would ultimately result in a…
The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park write: You told us what you wanted and we listened! Starting this Friday 3rd April, the FoTHCP will be hosting a series of 30minute topical online talks on subjects ranging from Cemetery Park’s nature and heritage to African hyenas. Online talks are a new venture for us, so we look forward to engaging with you in a different and exciting way. We can’t wait to share our love for the Cemetery Park with you, even if we are stuck in our own homes! These online talks are free, however, we ask you to…
Britain’s rarest native timber tree has been given a boost, with 20 Black Poplars planted in parks and open spaces across Tower Hamlets during the 2019-20 tree planting season. In addition to its rarity, the Black Poplar is also the origin of the name of Poplar district. John Gerard’s famous Herbal of 1597 records that many Black Poplar trees grew in the marshy pastures around what is now Poplar. Black Poplars no longer reproduce naturally in Britain for a number of reasons. Its conservation is therefore totally dependent on planting more trees. Due to its rarity and the historical link…
James Clark of Malmesbury Residents Association writes: Malmesbury Residents Association continues an ambitious project to transform its estate into a green paradise in the heart of Tower Hamlets. The Association completed its biggest project in March, thankfully before COVID-19 made community gatherings impossible! It transformed a community square by Ambrose Walk, near Tom Thumbs Arch and Bow Road Station. This square was identified as a priority for improvement as it was barren, comprising mainly tarmac and a small amount of grass. Kids made limited but creative use of the space in the summer by drawing play markings such as hopscotch…