Special Events to celebrate our 150th Anniversary

More News and Events

Wildlife Gardening Fayre and Conference - Saturday June 21st
Wildlife Gardening Fayre
Gloucester Green, Regent’s Park 10.00 to 5.00
The Wildlife Gardening Fayre will be held in the north-eastern corner of Regent’s Park, just across the road from London Zoo, and will be open to the general public. Attractions include 40 to 50 stalls dispensing advice and information on all aspects of wildlife gardening, together with sales of wild flowers, bird boxes, books and other products to help you encourage, and learn more about, the wildlife in your garden. There will also be activities for children.

Wildlife gardening Conference
Taking place in the nearby London Zoo Conference Centre, Leading authors Chris Baines and Ken Thompson will be speaking, together with our own David Bevan, who will be giving a workshop about gardening with wild flowers. Booking required in advance.
- Conference programme
- Workshop list and booking form
Sponsored by the London Biodiversity Partnership and Natural England.

An Invitation to enter our Members' Photo Competition
Closing date is 30th September. Full details HERE

London's Changing Flora

Not only does London's human population change over time but so does that of its wildlife. The advent of the urban fox is a well- known story, but what of the plants? The time has now come for a new work to document these changes. Mark Spencer explains..

Checklist of Flowering Plants and Ferns of Hampstead Heath

The Hampstead Heath Survey Group has produced a CD containing a Millennial Checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Heath. It records over 650 species found growing on the Heath between 1997 and 2003. Both Latin and vernacular names are given, and dot maps show the location of each species within 100m squares. Lists of all plants found in any 100m square can be produced. The CD is in Excel format, with instructions for use in Word. It is available price £2.50 (inc. p&p) from Sheila Ayres, Flat 1, 22 Daleham Gardens, London NW3 5DA. Cheques payable to London Natural History Society.

"Amazing Rare Things
- The Art of Natural History in The Age of Discovery"
The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, 14 March – 28 September 2008
The term 'natural history' has a long pedigree, and the study of the natural world has fascinated many people over the centuries. This exhibition from the collections in the Royal Library brings together the works of four artists and a collector from the 17th and 18th centuries who shaped our knowledge of the world around us: Leonardo da Vinci, Cassiano dal Pozzo, Alexander Marshal, Maria Sibylla Merian and Mark Catesby. MORE INFO...

An Excellent start to New Bird Atlas Project

February 08: With under a month to go before the end of the first winter period of the New Atlas project, there have been records submitted for over 50% of the tetrads in the LNHS area, and timed visit data for a third of the tetrads (2km squares). There are still more records to come.This is an excellent start and with three winters still to go we are well on our way to achieving full coverage by the end of the project. MORE INFO..
London regional organisers are (North of the river) and (South of the river).

Forthcoming Coach Trips
Our coach trips continue with a visits to Fingringhoe Wick, Essex on Saturday 19th April, Stodmarsh, Kent on Saturday 10th May, and Pagham Harbour, Sussex, on Saturday 16 August. These have to be booked in advance - see the Programme page for information about booking.

Changes to Bird Recorders
January 08: There have been a couple of changes recently, with new recorders for Essex and Middlesex areas. The latest details are given on our main Ornithology page. This updates the information given in our printed programme.

Learning about Lichens

These fascinating organisms are very sensitive to air pollution and had a history of decline in the London area, but many species are returning. You can read a paper about Lichens in the latest edition of The London Naturalist. See our Publications page for more details of this journal.

"The Decline in plants and fungi expertise needs to be reversed"

October 07: A new report jointly produced by Plantlife, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, and RBG Kew highlights a decline in botanical skills in the UK, and the threat this could pose to the future of plant conservation work. The report highlights the role of voluntary sector societies such as ours.
The report is entitled Plant Diversity Challenge and can be downloaded from the Plantlife website.

Hedgehog Survey: Your help is needed

The last survey of the distribution of hedgehogs in Greater London was carried out in the 1960s. A team from Royal Holloway College and the People's Trust for Endangered Species is now repeating the survey in order to get a picture of changes in the distribution of London's hedgehogs. They need reports of sightings, or a lack of them, (because it is just as important to record their absence from an area). If you live in Greater London, please enter your sighting or lack of a sighting at the following website: www.hogwatch.org.uk
You may also write to Mrs. A Hof, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, Egham TW20 0EX.

Walthamstow Marshes : Reprint of 1979 Survey Report now available

This survey was carried out in 1979 and 1980 when the Marshes were under threat. It includes bird, insect and plant species lists, and forms an interesting record. Our member Mike Trier has revised the original and has arranged this downloadable reprint:
- Download FULL REPORT as PDF (53 pages, 2.16 Mb).
- Download GEOLOGICAL MAP separately as PDF (396 Kb)

'London Naturalist' and 'London Bird Report':
Full lists of contents now on-line
Tables of contents covering each volume of the London Naturalist and supplements from 1915 onwards, and the London Bird Report from 1936 onwards can now be downloaded from the Publications page.

Both are available in two searchable formats: .PDF, a plain text format which is best for printing; and as an .XLS spreadsheet which allows you to edit or sort the contents, add your own keywords, or load into a database. The actual journal articles themselves are not available on-line.

Birds in a Village - A Century on
Around 1893 W.H. Hudson (author of 'Birds in London') made excursions to a village in the Thames Valley and wrote about its birds. LNHS member Brian Clews has updated Hudson's findings with his own reflections on birds and village life over a century later. Published as 'Birds in a Village - A Century on', you can download a FACTSHEET [ pdf:390kb ] with details about the book and how to purchase it.

This News and Events page carries news of happenings of interest to members. Please email to me details of events, news and messages for members for future inclusion here.
- Marc Carlton ( ).

This page last updated 11/05/08

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