What you may see in the park this spring
With 10,000 acres of habitat the wildlife changes with the seasons and offers an array of things to look out for.
Wildlife
The park is renowned for its important and protected habitats and the species that make them their home – some highlights that you may see from March to May are:
Swifts as they return from Africa to start their breeding season, listen out for their ‘screaming’ calls as they feed on insects. They can be seen across the valley feasting on the insects especially over waterbodies. We’ve installed Swift boxes in the walls of the Lee Valley Ice Centre and play recordings of their calls to draw them in, hopefully one day they'll nest here. Read more >
Nightingale are secretive birds known for their melodic song who love scrubby or coppiced woodland. They are Red Listed due to their decline in numbers – there has been an estimated 42% decline in breeding numbers over the past 30 years. They return to the park each spring
having spent the winter in west Africa, a great place to listen and look out for them is Fishers Green
Barn Owls can be seen quartering the grasslands on the hunt for their prey of small mammals. If walking the park pathway from Fishers Green to Clayton Hill in River Lee Country Park keep an eye out over the farmland particularly at dusk
Kingfisher, these lovely bright cobalt blue birds can be seen throughout the year, listen out for their shrill call as they fly low over the waterways or look out for them on perched on branches over the water. Good locations for spotting them are WaterWorks Centre nature reserve, Tottenham Marshes and the Wildlife Discovery Centre in River Lee Country Park at Fishers Green. This species is part of our Biodiversity Action Plan and we have installed special features in banks to encourage them to nest. Read more >
House Sparrow are small noisy social birds that can be found in the park all year round. Sadly, their populations are in decline globally but can still be found throughout the park – listen out for their noisy ‘cheep cheep’ call as they gather together in bushes
Skylark with their distinctive small crest and streaky brown feathers are known for their aerobatics being able to fly vertically in the air. Their long rising and falling warbling song, is so evocative of this time of year. They are a Red List species (which means it’s in critical danger) and are year-round residents in the park, loving our farmland and grassland areas on Gunpowder Park, where they nest on the ground
Cuckoo, their distinctive call heralds the start of spring as they return from their African wintering grounds. They lay their egg in another birds nest, it hatches after 12 days and pushes out the hosts eggs and chicks so that it gets all of its adoptive parents attention. A great place listen for their calls are Glen Faba or Cornmill Meadows
Pollinators such as bumblebees come out of hibernation and start to do their great work pollinating the spring flowers. The park is a haven for such species and they can been seen hard at work up and down the park. Look out for the scarce Brown-banded Carder bumblebee, the queen emerges from hibernation from April onwards
Flora
The open spaces burst back into life in spring, from the buds on the trees bring back their leafy canopies to flowers in wildflower meadows making a reappearance. Notable for spring are:
Cuckooflower so named as it blooms from April onwards, coinciding with the arrival of Cuckoos. With its delicate pale pink flowers its easy to see why they are also called Lady’s Smock– they love damp meadows, ditches and river banks. In the park you can see these flowers on the floodplain meadows at Silvermeade, Cornmill Meadows and Walthamstow Marshes
Cowslips’ bright yellow flowers can be seen from April to May and are an important early nectar source for insects. This native plant is a member of the primrose family can easily be found throughout grasslands of the park such as WaterWorks Centre nature reserve, Gunpowder Park and those at our sporting venues such as the Lee Valley White Water Centre
Upcoming planned events
Throughout the year the park runs special wildlife themed events. Up coming events include
Water Vole guided walk – April
BioBlitz – summer
Bee focused event – summer
London Rivers Week – October
Love the Lea - October
Bittern Roost Watch – January 2026
The park will also be at the Global Bird Fair (11 – 13 July) held in Rutland.
Know the latest
If you want to be kept up to date with our events or wildlife sign why not sign up to our enewsletters. We have specific enewsletters so you only get sent information of interest to you. Find out more and sign up today >