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HELP RECORD WILDLIFE AT LESNES ABBEY WOODSIn 2025, the National Lottery Heritage Fund funded the Lesnes 500 project to recreate and commemorate the book, ‘British Woodlands as illustrated by Lessness Abbey Wood’ for its 100th anniversary,
The London biodiversity records centre and Site Manager Ian Holt are keen to see any visitors, and people of all levels of wildlife knowledge, adding to the pool of records for this project.
Ffi: www.gigl.org.uk/2026/09/17/get-lesnes-abbey-savvy/
Recording scheme:
www.cognitoforms.com/GiGL2/LesnesAbbeyWoodsWildlifeSurvey
Lesnes Abbey Woods Wildlife Survey
www.cognitoforms.com
THAMES ROAD WETLAND HITS 20 SPECIES OF ODONATAThames Road Wetland, managed by Thames21 volunteers, has seen an increase of 6 species of Odonata in the last 12 months, adding a couple of the newer arrivals in the UK that have been present at other sites in the Borough for a while now and two undergoing general range expansion. This is likely to be due to increased observer effort, with a helper who lives fairly close now visiting the site 2 or 3 times a week.
Autumn 2025 saw the addition of Scarce Chaser.
A Four-spotted Chaser was photographed on 5th June 2026, a Norfolk Hawker on 1st July, a pair of copulating Southern Migrant Hawkers on July 22nd and a Southern Hawker on 21st August.
A Lesser Emperor was also seen.
Although only 2ha in area, the site benefits from a large expanse of floodplain land to the south and west, and the Outer Crayford Marshes and Dartford Marshes stretching down to the Thames to the north of Thames Road.
The full list of species is currently:
Damselflies (6) - Azure, Banded Demoiselle, Blue-tailed, Common Blue, Large Red, Willow Emerald.
Dragonflies (14) - Hairy, Brown Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Norfolk (Green-eyed) Hawker, Southern Hawker, Southern Migrant Hawker, Emperor, Lesser Emperor, Broad-bodied Chaser, Four-spotted Chaser, Scarce Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Darter, Ruddy Darter.
Thanks to Jim and Tom for photos.
Chris Rose, Volunteer Site Manager
UPCOMING LONDON NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY EVENTS AT BEXLEY SITESNon-members welcome on a 'taster' basis. To join: www.lnhs.org.uk/index.php/join-now (£20 p.a., under 18/students £5)
Great for beginners as well as the more experienced.
Sat Nov 7th. 2026. 10.00-14.00. London Bird Club section of the LNHS. Danson Park. Meet Welling station. Leader Bexley RSPB's very own Harry Halstead.
Sat Nov 21st. 2026. 10.00-14.00. LBC. Meet Belvedere station 10.00. Leader George Kalli.
Sat 16th Jan. 2027. 10.00-14.00. LBC. Crayford Marshes. Meet Slade Green station 10.00. Leader Harry Halstead.
Sat 6th Feb 2027. 10.00-14.00. LBC. Crayford Rough and Hall Place Gardens. Leader Harry Halstead.
For full list of events across London, covering a wide variety of wildlife topics, see:
www.lnhs.org.uk/index.php/activities/full-programme
JOIN A WETLAND HABITAT WORK SESSION AT CRAYFORD MARSHES ......The next Thames21 staff-supported event at Thames Road Wetland, an important wildlife site on the Inner Crayford Marshes, will be on Friday 11th September.
We will be clearing cut Reed to retain open pools, digging out Reed rootmat to 'recover' open water areas for Dragonflies and Water Voles and clearing out more of the road run-off trap so that it has plenty of capacity once the autumn rains kick in.
Samantha Dhedhi will be bringing all equipment provided. No sophisticated skills needed. A chance to meet new people and get close to wildlife.
Basic refreshments available. Loos available at the nearby council depot.
Ffi/to book:
book.plinth.org.uk/e/0WCJmk9xkzaAmCNTk2TC
Category Archives: LHNS
Braeburn Park LNHS meeting 17th June finds over 134 invertebrate species. (Belated report….)
The London Natural History Society’s Ecology and Entomology section visit to London Wildlife Trust’s Braeburn Park site, on a hot 17th June 2017, recorded 134 species of invertebrate, with a few more yet to be formally identified, mainly comprising less … Continue reading
New plant records for Bexley, including one for ‘botanical Kent’
Rodney Burton, author of the most recent London flora, has written to report a number of interesting plant finds in Bexley, and there has subsequently been a new species for the whole of the Kent botanical recording area located in … Continue reading
London butterfly project set up to produce new distribution atlas. Bexley butterfly and moth Facebook page launched.
The London Natural History Society is calling on existing and potential new recorders to help produce a new butterfly distribution atlas for Greater London, the results of which will be compared with the last LNHS survey which was in 1980-86. Much has … Continue reading
Bexley butterfly highlights of 2015 – report
The following Bexley butterfly report has been sent to the London Natural History Society butterfly recorder for the 2016 journal, which will contain the 2015 transect count and species status reports and be published in early 2017. What follows won’t … Continue reading
LNHS experts have identified 132 species of invertebrate on Southern Marsh, including several scarcities
We have just received the final list of invertebrate species found on the southern part of Crossness at Erith Marshes at the joint meeting with Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve on 4th July, compiled by London Natural History Society experts … Continue reading
Crossness pulls level with FCM on 15 species of Odonata as Small Red-eyed Damselfly joins the list
Small Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma viridulum) was found at Crossness Southern Marsh (part of the remnant of Erith Marshes) on yesterday’s LNHS invertebrate meeting, a new site record, taking the Odonata species total here to 15 (though no one seems to … Continue reading
CROSSNESS – exciting range of educational wildlife events announced for the summer
From Karen Sutton – Biodiversity Team Manager, Thames Water Crossness Nature Reserve. I have arranged a diverse series of events through to September, both to showcase the fabulous range of wildlife on the site, and to provide an introduction to … Continue reading
Welling botany meeting adds probable new species to Bexley list
Rodney Burton writes: One London Natural History Society member was the only other person who turned up to this April 25th meeting! We recorded about 100 species in each of two monads. The only item of special interest was a good … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley, LHNS, Plants in Bexley, Welling, Woodlands Farm
Tagged LNHS, Welling
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