Biodiversity in Bexley
About Bexley's wildlife
Species found in Bexley
Bexley has a great wealth of flora and fauna, some of regional or national importance.
Contact with wildlife is a valuable experience for us all. Young children, in particular, respond positively to the natural world.
Certain plants and animals are excellent indicators of the quality of our environment. Many plants are edible and medicinal. These include some seaweeds, lichens and fungi as well as many familiar flowering plants. Scientists are concerned that many plants will disappear, taking their medicinal secrets with them.
Things to look out for in the Borough include:
 House Martin
The adult is identified by its white underbelly and is a familiar and unwelcome summer visitor to Bexley. It can be seen gathering sticky mud to use in nest-building beneath the eaves of our houses.
 Kingfisher
A surprisingly small but dazzlingly attractive Bexley resident. It can be seen in low level flight speeding along our rivers, where it uses overhanging branches as a fishing platform. Its presence indicates good water quality.
 White-clawed crayfish
Once common, our native crayfish is now scarce and endangered as a result of river pollution, disturbance and competition from non-native species. Crayfish need fast-flowing and well-oxygenated water. During the day they hide under stones and holes in the river bank. The Environment Agency plans to repair crayfish habitats in the future.
 Newts
Newts are found breeding in our ponds, ditches and lakes from March to September. The rest of the year they live on land hiding by day in damp cool places, under logs and stones. In winter they hibernate deep in old burrows or in rotten logs away from the frost.
 Alder
The alder grows in damp boggy ground and is abundant along watercourses where it helps to stabilise the banks. Heights can reach over 19 metres. The leaves are rounded with an indent at the tip. In recent years it has suffered from a lethal fungal disease. We need to keep a careful watch for this disease in Bexley.
 Heather and Ling
Heather has had many uses through the centuries, including bedding, fuel, thatching and basketry. It also yields an orange dye and has been used to flavour beer. Restricted in Bexley, ling likes acid soils and can be seen in remnants of lowland heath and Lesnes Abbey. Much work has taken place to encourage these species.
 Bats
There are three requirements for keeping our bats happy in Bexley - good feeding areas, places to roost and clear routes between them. All bats are protected in this country under wildlife law. Our bats are relatively small. The pipistrelle is one of the smallest at 5cm long, with a wing-span of 20cm and a weight of 4 grammes. One of the largest and most widespread is the noctule bat which is found in our woodlands. Reaching 8cm long, the noctule bat is often mistaken for a swift as it flies high soon after sunset.
 Song Thrush
The song thrush, once a familiar bird of garden and wider countryside, has suffered a serious decline over the past 25 years. Intensification of farming and over-use of chemicals in gardens have been a major cause. These are the only British birds that break open snail shells by hammering them on a hard surface.
 Water Vole
A charming waterside animal, made famous as Ratty in Wind in the Willows, it is now nationally scarce. Bexley is host to a major population of this small mammal, which can be seen in the north of the Borough at Thamesmead, Erith and Crayford Marshes and along the River Cray.
 Stag Beetle
This magnificent beetle, Britain's largest, is nationally listed as a scarce species. The male is distinguished by its mandibles which are used in territorial disputes. The larvae spend up to five years hidden from view in dead, rotting wood. Emerging as adults in June or July, their erratic clumsy flight can be seen during the early evening.
 Butterflies
Butterflies in our meadows commonly include meadow brown, skippers, blues and small copper. In your garden you may be lucky enough to spot the wonderful peacock or red admiral which love buddleia and also need nettles nearby as food for their caterpillars.
 Black Poplar
The true black poplar is native to Britain but alas not often found. It is Britain's rarest timber tree. Its timber is fire resistant and mistletoe never grows on it. We are lucky to have examples of black poplar in Bexley. Young trees of local provenance have been planted.
 Bee Orchid
This beautiful native perennial wild flower is extremely rare in Bexley. Walkers may spot them in flower in June and July.
 Bluebell
Our native bluebell, now fully protected by law, is found in our ancient woodlands, often carpetting quite large areas. The bluebell flowers from April to June.
 Fungi
Autumn brings a burst of colour from our trees with their many hues of gold and orange. September and October also bring the main show of Bexley's mushrooms and toadstools. Look out for the giant puffball, stink horn and the flame red of the highly poisonous fly agaric.
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