\n This is a busy time of year for us at Heath Hands, as, alongside our usual conservation and community engagement programmes, our main wildlife monitoring programmes restart for the summer season.\n<\/p>\n
\n Each year, from April to October, our staff and volunteers survey butterflies, odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), stag beetles and grass snakes, as well as conducting our Nature\u2019s Calendar plant phenology survey, which runs year-round, and collaborating with ZSL\u2019s London Hogwatch on hedgehog monitoring.\n<\/p>\n
\n During the wildlife survey, the willow emerald was among the eight damselfly species spotted (Image: Dave Porritt)\n<\/p>\n
\n Surveys are an assessment of species abundance (size) and richness (the number of different species) and are carried out to monitor the health of key species to inform habitat management and conservation plans.\n<\/p>\n
\n Overall, our volunteers contributed over 1,450 hours towards last year\u2019s ecological monitoring programmes on the Heath \u2013 many thanks to them all!\n<\/p>\n
\n Thanks also go to Hampstead Heath\u2019s senior ecologist and conservation team at the City of London Corporation for their key partnership and advice on these programmes.\n<\/p>\n
\n And what were the results for 2025?\n<\/p>\n
\n Generally, we\u2019re glad to report that the Heath\u2019s ecosystems seem to be in good health.\n<\/p>\n
\n Karin Oleinikova shares the results of the Heath’s wildlife survey (Image: Heath Hands)\n<\/p>\n
\n For instance, our volunteers recorded 180 grass snake sightings over the season, and our results indicate a gradual increase in the grass snake population on the Heath over the past few years, including snake egg findings, which show that the grass snakes are breeding on site.\n<\/p>\n
\n Our monitors also recorded over 2,600 sightings from 11 dragonfly and eight damselfly species and a gradual increase in sightings over the past few years \u2013 an indication of the health of the Heath\u2019s wetland habitats.\n<\/p>\n
\n This is something that we will continue to monitor over the coming years, as wetlands can be vulnerable to issues such as pesticides from dog flea treatments.\n<\/p>\n
\n Our butterfly monitoring presents a mixed picture: sightings of the most prevalent species, the meadow brown, have declined in recent years, while others, including the small white and large white have increased.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Common Blue is being monitored on Hampstead Heath (Image: Heath Hands)\n<\/p>\n
\n Encouragingly, the brown argus was recorded on the Heath for the first time since 2021.\n<\/p>\n
\n Butterflies are important indicators of ecosystem health, although their populations can also be affected by extreme weather patterns. Our team will continue to monitor these trends closely in the years ahead.\n<\/p>\n
\n You can find reports on all our monitoring programmes on our website: heath-hands.org.uk\/ecology-wildlife<\/a>. You can also pop in to visit us at the Heath Info Hut or the Kenwood Dairy Nature Centre to see the reports on paper and chat to our team about our key species and conservation work.\n<\/p>\n