Local Wildlife Site

Wildlife

The watercourses and drainage ditches support a diverse range of water plants, including many uncommon species. Among these are river and tubular water-dropwort, whorl-grass, arrowhead, flowering-rush and stream water-crowfoot. A very rare plant indeed has recently been discovered beside a ditch on Walthamstow Marshes - creeping marshwort. This is the second of only two sites remaining in the entire country. Brookweed and blunt-flowered rush (both very rare in London) grow nearby. The wet marshy grassland supports marsh arrowgrass, adder's-tongue fern and the ‘graceful' sedge - a rare hybrid between slender-tufted and lesser pond-sedges. Drier neutral grassland supports bee orchid, grass vetchling and the nationally scarce yellow vetchling. The Lea Valley is immensely important for its birdlife. The valley holds internationally important numbers of wintering gadwall and shoveler. Breeding birds include kingfisher, sand martin, little ringed plover, skylark and yellow wagtail. Large numbers of swifts and house martins regularly forage over the waterbodies in summer. London's largest grey heron colony breeds on several of the wooded islands in Walthamstow Reservoirs. The Chingford and Walthamstow Reservoirs are a major refuge for national and regionally important numbers of waterfowl, including tufted duck, great crested grebe, goosander and goldeneye. Nationally rare wintering and passage species are regularly recorded. The site is very important for the specially-protected water vole, which is locally abundant. The specially-protected great crested newt also occurs and fish include the declining bullhead. The reed beds and other riverside habitats support a number of rare insects. The reedbeds and other riverside habitats support a number of rare insects. These include several rare wetland moths, such as the dotted fan-foot, Webb's wainscot and brown-veined wainscot. The emerald and red-eyed damselflies, both scarce in London, also fly here. Otters have returned to the Lee in recent years, and there have been two records in Tower Hamlets.

Facilities

Information (including at the Three Mills Museum); car parking; cycle paths; fishing; sailing; horse riding; nature trail; sculptures/ monuments; waymarked walking routes