As part of a campaign to create a network of well managed gardens across the capital, London Wildlife Trust’s ‘Garden for A Living London’ is asking Londoners to do one thing to create a wildlife and climate friendly garden. This could be planting a diverse range of plants and flowers that attract butterflies, minimising water use or creating cooler spaces for people and wildlife. As our climate changes, gardens are becoming even more vital to wildlife and people. They can provide shade, absorb carbon, soak up and retain flood water and help to cool buildings. Your garden probably already supports…
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The charity Trees for Cities, in partnership with EastendHomes and local residents, has been transforming the green spaces around Manchester Estate to create an oasis for birds, insects and mammals. This has led to the opening of the first Manchester Estate urban nature trail, developed through working closely with the young people on the estate and with children from local schools. Over the last three years, four community gardens have been developed around the estate, a natural play area, tree planting and new wildlife habitats, including a wildflower meadow and woodland copse. A hedgehog home has been installed with assistance…
The Streaked Bombardier Beetle (Brachinus sclopeta) was presumed extinct in the UK after an absence of 75 years, but has been found in two London locations, including Mile End Park, since 2006, suggesting that there could be more populations in the London area. Buglife, the invertebrate conservation trust, is keen to find more sites for this rare insect, and is asking people in east London to keep a look out for it. It is important to find out where the species is hanging on, as so many London brownfield sites are due to be lost to development. The species is…
Young volunteers from nearby Stepney City Farm have installed nest boxes for swifts on St Dunstan’s Church, Stepney. Working closely with church warden Julian Cass, the 12- to 18-year-olds designed the boxes and made them from spare plywood from the farm. The boxes were then installed in the belfry windows on the north side of the historic church. Swifts often nest in church towers, but access to the tower of St Dunstan’s is blocked. It is hope that the nest boxes will attract swifts back to the church. Swift numbers have decreased in recent years, so projects such as this…
Local naturalist Terry Lyle had a surprise during a regular butterfly survey in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park on 21st May. He found a Small Blue, a rare butterfly usually found on chalk downlands and never before recorded in inner London. The Small Blue is Britain’s smallest butterfly. Its caterpillars feed on Kidney Vetch, a yellow-flowered relative of clovers, which likes dry, chalky soils. There are a few well-established partches of Kidney Vetch in Cemetery Park, and it was on one of these that the butterfly was seen. Having caught the butterfly to confirm the identification and take photos (see above),…
Residents at Ring House and Solander Gardens in Shadwell can now grow their own fruit and vegetables thanks to a new Community Food Garden set up by Tower Hamlets Homes in partnership with residents. Opened officially in March 2011 by Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, the Community Food Gardens have been established in patches of land that were attracting anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping. At the launch, the Mayor planted a cherry tree in one of the gardens with resident Pat Chowdhury, who was instrumental in setting up the gardens. The Mayor praised the efforts of the staff and residents…
Sharp-eyed birdwatchers at East India Dock Basin have spotted two tufted ducks bearing red saddles on their bills this spring. The first, a male, was seen on 17th April, then again on 27th. On 1st May he was joined by a similarly-marked female. A little online research revealed that both ducks had been marked at Säo Jacinto Dunes Nature Reserve, Portugal; the male (“RedU1”) on December 16th 2007 and the female (“Red-1”) on January 14th 2011. That is 1375 kilometres from East India Dock Basin. Both birds were noted in the Säo Jacinto area until 28th February this year and…
There’s lots happening for wildlife at Mile End Park this spring. The makeover of the Arts Pavilion pond has been completed. Coir (coconut fibre) rolls have been installed, and the seeds within them should soon grow into thriving wetland vegetation, concealing the stark concrete edges of the pond and providing habitat for birds, amphibians and insects. The scrape by the Palm Tree pub, which was created a couple of years ago, is developing into an interesting wildlife habitat. This shallow excavation is intended to remain damp for more of the year than the surrounding area, providing different conditions for plants…
The Art Pavilion pond in Mile End Park is getting a make-over this March, by being transformed into a thriving wildlife haven for urban animals. The Veolia Environmental Trust has awarded Froglife, in partnership with Tower Hamlets Council, funding to increase the biodiversity of the pond and encourage an array of animals to visit the pond such as frogs, dragonflies and bats. The existing pond has hard concrete edges making it very difficult for plants to colonise. Coir rolls and pallets made of natural coconut matting, pre-planted with native wildflower and grass seeds, will be established all the way around…
Tower Habitats, Trees for Cities, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the Save KEMP group joined forces on 22nd February to put on a free community event in King Edward Memorial Park. Mayor Lutfur Rahman, cabinet members Cllr Rabina Khan and Cllr Alibor Choudhury, and over 130 local residents came down to the park to help plant wild flowers in the park and learn more about the elusive and charismatic stag beetle – one of the UK’s largest insects. Participants were offered free stag beetle bucket homes to encourage this rare insect back into urban areas. The event also…