The Limehouse Cut south of Bow Common Road has been brightened up with attractive and colourful vegetation. Gabion baskets were fitted and planted by the Canal and River Trust in February along over 100 metres of canal wall just south of Bow Common Road. These are already full of a wide range of flourishing native waterside plants, providing habitat for birds and other wildlife, and transforming a previously dull bare wall. The photo above shows only about half of the section which has been enhanced. The close-up left shows flowering Purple Loosestrife alongside Great Willowherb, sedges, Yellow Iris and Amphibious…
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A pond is the latest addition to the wildlife habitats in Winterton House Organic Garden. This fantastic garden, the brainchild of local residents Melvyn Smith and Ken Davies, began in early 2010 on an underused area of shrubs beside Deancross Street in Shadwell. In just 3 years, it has been transformed into a wonderful place for local people and for wildlife. Flower beds and an alpine garden (left) are full of colourful, nectar-rich flowers for much of the year, attracting bees and butterflies. Dry walls (see photo above) provide cover for insects and other small animals, while climbers hide…
Elf Green in the Glamis Estate was a stunning blaze of colour at the start of this summer, thanks to a new wildflower meadow sown by EastendHomes. Red poppies, blue cornflowers and purple corncockle bloom among a sea of white-and-yellow corn chamomile. The meadow was created at the start of this year. Topsoil was scraped from an area in the middle of the green to reveal the less fertile subsoil, with the topsoil made into a mound beside the scrape. Both mound and scrape were sown with a wildflower seed mix, containing cornfield annuals and perennial meadow plants. Plants appeared…
Over the next two years, art group Nomad, in association with climate change project Cape Farewell and the Teesdale & Hollybush TRA, will launch a research-based project called Phytology* at Bethnal Green Nature Reserve. Phytology is an action-research project bringing together artists and botanists to explore the ecology and medicinal properties of wild plants and weeds common to derelict and undeveloped urban sites. The partnership of artists and botanists will seek to create a fresh language in which to challenge perceptions of the value of un-manicured growth, revealing practical biomedical usefulness, and suggesting a wider eco-connectivity. This will involve the…
On 16 May, 15 local people, including several very keen and knowledgeable children, attended a training course on identifying and surveying amphibians at Mudchute Farm. This was part of Froglife’s “Dragon Finder” project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which aims to raise awareness and improve habitats for London’s native reptiles and amphibians. The training course began with a fascinating illustrated talk by Victoria Ogilvy, Froglife’s Dragon Finder Project Manager. This showed what wonderful creatures amphibians are, and taught us how to identify Britain’s native species, which consist of three newts, two frogs and two toads. Once it was dark,…
Have you seen a Hedgehog recently in Tower Hamlets? We’re trying to find out where in the borough Hedgehogs live, so we can help to conserve them. Once a common and familiar animal found in gardens all over the country, Hedgehogs have declined alarmingly in recent years. No-one is sure exactly why, but a number of things may have had an impact. An increase in traffic, changing trends in gardening, including increased use of slug pellets and more fences between gardens, and the increase in urban Foxes all might have played a part in the loss of Hedgehogs. We really…
The freezing start to April must have made many of us wonder if spring would ever get going. It had the same effect on wildlife, with flowers late to show, few amphibians entering ponds to breed, and no sign of our summer migrant birds. That’s all changed with the warmer weather since the middle of April mad spring is now back on track. For migrant birds, spring came with a real bang, as Monday 15 April saw one of the largest arrivals of summer visitors ever recorded in London. Willow Warblers, Wheatears (see photo above), Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Redstarts were…
Local spider expert Edward Milner has found a spider new to London in Mile End Park. A male of the tiny money spider Mermessus trilobatus (it doesn’t have an English name) turned up in a pitfall trap under the windmill. There are only a handful of British records of the species. It appears to be a recent arrival in Europe from North America, perhaps due to accidental introductions, and is now established in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The photo of Mermessus trilobatus above was taken in North America (copyright Kyron Basu 2012). More images can be seen on the…
Charity Trees for Cities, working in partnership with EastendHomes, held a community planting day on the Glamis Estate in Shadwell on 23 February. This is part of an ongoing project to revamp areas of the estate. Residents of all ages were invited to come down to Elf Green on Glamis Estate to help plant trees and other plants and join in the family fun! The event was a great success. About 50 people came along to help, which was a great turnout considering the freezing cold weather on the day! Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman visited and helped plant…
Home and dry: reed beds for nesting birds on East London’s waterways Water-loving birds in east London have been having a rocky time recently, as waves from passing boats have disturbed their nests. Now, the charity that looks after London’s waterways, the Canal & River Trust, is transforming an urban stretch of canal into a green haven for wildlife and waterfowl. The Canal & River Trust is planting reed beds along the Limehouse Cut for the benefit of native wildlife. Land & Water, the UK’s leading dredging company, is supporting the project and is donating £6,000 of materials and the…