News and Events

Latest News from the Bird Atlas Project, May 2010

Your help is still needed


We are now more than half way through the atlas project. The third winter survey period has now finished and the third breeding season survey period started on 1st April and lasts until 31st July 2010, with later records accepted for late breeding species. Please follow this link to view a progress update for the breeding season survey:

Link to Progress Update.

There are two priorities for field work for the breeding season. The first is to complete timed counts for all tetrads where these have still not taken place. The minimum requirement is just two hours in April or May, and two hours in June or July. In particular, we need to focus on areas outside Greater London (e.g. Essex and Kent). These areas are less populated than inner city areas and so take up of tetrads has been slower. We are therefore especially keen to hear from birders who are willing to travel to these areas so that we can ensure that full coverage is achieved.
MORE DETAILS ...

New Entomologists' Glossary is launched

The terms and phrases used by entomologists can be strange and confusing when you first read them or hear them being used. To help entomologists, both expert and amateur alike, the Amateur Entomologists' Society recently launched an online Entomologists' Glossary at www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary .
The glossary includes more than 360 words an entomologist might be familiar with, and some you may not have heard of.

'Walk the Chalk' with us in 2010

We are lucky in the South East to be surrounded by a very special habitat - chalk downlands. This habitat is remarkable for its flora, especially orchids, and its interesting invertebrates. At the meeting at Hartstock in May, we may also see Red Kites.


The following field trips will take us to chalk downland sites:
Saturday 24th April : Banstead Wood and environs, Surrey;
Saturday 22nd May : Hartstock Nature Reserve, Oxfordshire;
Sunday 6th June : Amberley, Sussex;
Sunday 8th August : Hutchinsons Bank, near Croydon
Saturday 21st August : Denbies hillside, near Dorking, Surrey;

Full details are in our Summer 2010 programme:

Botanical Institute Celebrates its Centenary

Based in Tulse Hill, near Brixton, the South London Botanical Institute is celebrating its centenary in 2010 with lots of events and field trips. You can download a PDF copy of the programme HERE.

Hampstead Heath Survey - Programme for 2010 now available
This can be downloaded from our SURVEYS page as a printer-friendly pdf.

Maps of Our Area

Three maps of our recording area can now be downloaded from our RECORDING and MAPPING page: A topogrpahical map, a map shopwing the Vice-counties, and a map showing major towns. All these are reproduced from past LNHS publications.

Our Library Re-opens in its New Home

After three years in storage the LNHS Library is now installed in the new Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum. There will be a drop-in enquiry service on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays 10.00 – 17.30pm, when an enquiry officer will be on duty. You can also book a visit at other times. There is shelving space for about half of the collection, and so we have put all the books out on the open shelves, while the periodicals, with the exception of the Society’s own, remain in store. We hope during the course of the next few months to edit the collection of books, dispose of some outdated works, and make room for more periodicals. We still have to make arrangements for lending books to members. FULL DETAILS

London's Changing Natural History: Classic papers from 150 years of the London Natural History Society. Edited by Mark Burgess.


Chosen from the many important contributions to
the Society's journals, these papers range from
1916 to 1997, and cover taxa from algae to mammals.

More information, a list of contents and full details of
how to purchase are given on our publications page.

The impact of the Olympics for the Wildlife of the Lower Lea Valley


The image on the left , taken in 2004, shows a Swan nesting on Pudding Mill River. The nest will be in the shadow of the Main Olympic Stadium.




An article about the impact of the Olympics, by Annie Chipchase and Anne Woollett, was originally published in the Society's Newsletter in February 2006. Download a PDF copy 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.

Walthamstow Marshes : Reprint of 1979 Survey Report 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 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 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.

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 11/7/10

UP TO TOP