Hounslow Heath is the only surviving piece of a once vast moorland covering much of southwest London, including the area now beneath Heathrow airport. Today the priority here is to retain something of its old heathland character, and the site still boasts a wide range of habitats, with an extensive area of acid grassland and restored heathland, meadows, scrub, woodland and wetlands. This Local Nature Reserve is one of London’s few sites managed through a conservation grazing programme, and is an important facility for local environmental education. The Ranger Service leads school and other group visits. Hounslow Heath Golf Course is also included in the site.
Local Wildlife Site
Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
Hounslow Heath
Borough: Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames
Grade: Metropolitan
Access: Free public access (all/most of site)
Area: 113.25 ha
Description
Wildlife
The restoration of the former heathland has encouraged natural regrowth of heather. Other rare moorland plants include dwarf gorse, petty whin, dyer's greenweed, heath rush, heath-grass, bell heather and mat-grass. There are also important moss and lichen communities. In the hay meadows, bee and pyramidal orchids can be seen alongside yellow-rattle and dove's-foot crane's-bill. The three wooded areas consist mainly of oak with some silver birch. Over 132 bird species have been identified on the site. Skylark and meadow pipit breed in the meadows. The scrub areas support whitethroat, linnet, goldfinch and stonechat. In the woodland are various tits, willow warbler and woodpeckers. Winter visitors to the site include jack snipe, fieldfare, redwing, and the occasional Dartford warbler. The insect life is well-studied and includes numerous local and nationally scarce species. In the wetlands are many rare hover- and soldier-flies, while the heathland areas are home to a long list of solitary mining bees and wasps. Grassland butterflies present include the meadow brown and common blue. This is also an important site for protected reptiles, with four species present. Amphibians in the ponds and reedbeds include both common and marsh frogs.Facilities
Information; nature trail; dipping pond; board walk; bird watching hide; horse riding; education
View across the pond on Hounslow Heath © Ian Yarham
Common or Viviparous lizard © Mike Waite
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