3 nature reserves to visit this spring
Photo credit: Mathew Frith
We care for 36 nature reserves in London. They range from small, inner city havens to spacious woodlands, wildflower meadows and wetlands.
Our reserves are all free to visit, and we’ve picked out three excellent ones to visit during spring.
Our reserves are all free to visit, and we’ve picked out three excellent ones to visit during spring.
Photo credit: James Cracknell
Location: Chiswick
A green oasis nestling within intersecting railway lines, this woodland was saved from development in the early 1980s and then enhanced by the creation of ponds and restoring areas of wet woodland and acid grassland. Birds and small mammals take advantage of the sheltered birch and willow while walkways and footpaths help guide visitors around this wild oasis in Chiswick.
What to spot in spring:
- Woodpeckers
- Sparrowhawk
- Blackcap
- Speckled wood butterfly
- Orange-tip butterfly
- Common pipistrelle bat
- Stag beetles
- Smooth newt
- Common frog
Bramley Bank
Photo credit: Mathew Frith
Location: Heathfield, Croydon
This enchanting oak woodland provides a home to many spring species such as stag beetles and woodpeckers. Trees here include birch, oak, sweet chestnut and ash, with springtime displays of bluebell and dog-violet. Bramley Bank also boasts the largest woodland pond in Croydon and the acid grassland clearing supports a range of bird, butterfly and plants.
What to spot in spring:
- Bluebells
- Dog-violet
- Gorse
- Common pipistrelle bat
- Stag beetle
- Great spotted woodpecker
- Song thrush
- Long-tailed tit
Woodberry Wetlands
Location: Manor House
A beautiful urban wetland nature reserve that is a thriving habitat for migratory birds. Hedgerows and wildflowers line the banks of the reservoir, while the reedbed extensions provide a wetland haven for waterfowl.
What to spot in spring:
- Great-crested grebe
- Spring migrant birds (common tern, swift, swallow, sand martin, reed, Cetti’s and sedge warblers)
- Bats (common pipistrelle, noctule, Daubenton's, Leisler's, Natterer's, brown long-eared)
- Smooth newt, common frog and toad