London - Lee Valley Park

The park runs for 42km alongside the river Lee to the north of London and is even crossed by the M25. There are 32 different species of mammal, 500 flowering plants and a staggering number of bird life considering the proximity to London.

WHERE IS IT?
The Lee Valley Information Centre is at Stubbins Hall Lane, Waltham Abbey, EN9 9EG and the park stretches between Ware in Hertfordshire to Leyton in London.

WHAT'S THERE?
The Lee Valley Park is an important site for bitterns in the UK. Two winter visitors to look out for are the fieldfare and redwing.

Also look out for:

- otters
- kingfishers
- water voles
- bats (Daubenton's over the water and pipistrelle among the trees)
- snipe
- redshank
- over 20 species of dragonfly
- foxes
- badgers
- stoat
- muntjac
- fallow deer
- grass snakes
- woodpeckers

and much much more. The website is fantastic as you can enter a particular animal you are interested in and it will tell you when and where it has been sighted. Take a look here:

http://www.leevalleypark.org.uk/en/content/cms/wildlife/wildlife.aspx