During 2025 and 2026, the Biological Recording Company collaborated with the London Borough of Bexley to deliver a series of Field Recorder Days at Lesnes Abbey Woods, a large woodland in south London famous for its ruined abbey. These Field Recorder Days were commissioned as part of Lesnes 500, a large-scale project made possible with a generous grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Lesnes 500 commemorates 500 years since the ‘dissolution’ of Lesnes Abbey (when it stopped functioning as a formal abbey), and aims to engage local communities with Lesnes Abbey Woods through a range of events focused on heritage, creativity, nature and education.
Field Recorder Days
Read about what found and got up to on our Field Recorder Day events at Lesnes Abbey Woods so far.
🐛 General Field Recorder Day (16/05/2026)
Write-up coming soon…
🐌 Mollusc Field Recorder Day (23/04/2026)
A Mollusc Field Recorder Day was held at Lesnes Abbey Woods on 23rd April 2026. The event was led by mollusc specialist Imogen Cavadino and attended by 18 participants. Recording was organised by dividing participants into small groups to survey neighbouring grid cells. Habitats covered included woodland, freshwater ponds, grassland, and Lesnes’ famous chalk pit. All identification was done in the field, with guidance provided by Imogen. Across the day, participants recorded 27 mollusc species (or species aggregates). Species finds are covered below.
The molluscs found on the day were:
- Terrestrial snails: Cepaea hortensis, Cepaea nemoralis, Clausilia bidentata, Cochlicopa agg., Cornu aspersum, Discus rotundatus, Hygromia cinctella, Lauria cylindracea, Monacha cantiana, Oxychilus alliarius, Oxychilus cellarius, Oxychilus draparnaudi, Pomatias elegans, Trochulus striolatus, Xeroplexa intersecta
- Slugs: Arion ater agg., Arion distinctus, Arion hortensis, Deroceras invadens, Deroceras reticulatum, Limacus maculatus, Limax maximus, Tandonia budapestensis
- Freshwater molluscs: Pisidium casertanum, Sphaerium lacustre, Stagnicola palustris/fuscus/corvus agg., Succinea putris
The definite highlight of the day was seeing Pomatias elegans, a specialist snail of calcareous substrates. Lesnes Abbey Woods is one of the only known sites for this species in Greater London; it has been known from here since the 1900s.
🐞 Beetle Field Recorder Day (24/03/2026)
A Beetle Field Recorder Day was held at Lesnes Abbey Woods on 24th March 2026. The event was led by beetle specialist Connor Butler and attended by 20 participants. As with previous days, recording was organised by splitting participants into smaller groups and assigning each group to neighbouring grid cells. Each group tackled three different grid cells over the course of the day, representing three different habitats (woodland, grassland and heathland). Identification was done in the field wherever possible by participants with guidance from Connor and Joss, and Connor and Joss both also collected specimens where further examination under magnification was required for identification. Across the day, participants generated 164 records and recorded 43 beetle species. Highlights are covered below.
- Woodland: The definite highlight of the day was found here – the beetle Margarinotus marginatus, which was sieved from rotted wood in a tree stump. This beetle is ‘pholophilous’, meaning it lives in mammal nests, and is very rare; our record represents the first ever record for Greater London! Other highlights in the woodland included the ground-dwelling weevil Exomias araneiformis, the ground beetle Asaphidion curtum and high numbers of the tenebrionid Nalassus laevioctostriatus.
- Grassland: The grassland was just starting to develop its springtime invertebrate fauna, with numerous Nedyus quadrimaculatus swept from Nettle, Phaedon tumidulus from Cow Parsley, and Ceutorhynchus pallidactylus from Brassicaceae. The highlight was the longhorn Phytoecia cylindrica, which feeds on Cow Parsley.
- Heathland: Strophosoma melanogrammum and Strophosoma capitatum were both beat from oaks, providing a nice comparison for participants. Othius punctulatus was found under deadwood. Neocoenorrhinus germanicus and Micrelus ericae were swept from the heather.
Fungi Field Recorder Day (28/10/2025)
A Fungi Field Recorder Day was held at Lesnes Abbey Woods on 28th October 2025. The event was led by mycologist and botanist Mark Spencer and attended by 32 participants. Over the day, participants divided into small groups to survey different grid cells. Thanks to the use of indoor workspace in Lesnes Lodge, groups were able to sort and organise and identify their specimens over lunch and during an afternoon identification session. Across the day, participants generated 126 records, including 62 fungi species.
In the morning session, we concentrated on the northern woodland edge, with groups each tackling a 100 × 100 m grid cell. A wide range of species was recorded, including the mushrooms Psathyrella candolleana (Pale Brittlestem), Gymnopus fusipes (Spindle Toughshank), Chlorophyllum rhacodes (Shaggy Parasol) and Daldinia concentrica (King Alfred’s Cakes). Other finds included the crust fungus Basidioradulum radula (Toothed Crust), the sulphur-scented Tricholoma sulphureum and the tiny pink lichenicolous fungus Iliosporiopsis christiansenii on the lichen Physcia adscendens.
In the afternoon the group moved to the small heathland in the south of Lesnes Abbey Woods, one of the few remaining heathland fragments in Greater London and an important refuge for specialist species. Highlights included a striking patch of Trametes betulina (Birch Mazegill) growing – intriguingly – from an English Oak Quercus robur stump, several fine specimens of Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric), the jelly-like Phaeotremella foliacea (Leafy Brain) and the maroon mushroom Cortinarius decipiens. The latter is particularly uncommonly recorded; Lesnes Abbey Woods is only the second known London site for the species on iRecord. The heath was also productive for Russula (Brittlegills), with three species identified by Mark Spencer: R. ionochlora, R. betularum and R. velenovskyi.
🌿 Plant Gall Field Recorder Day (20/09/2025)
A Plant Gall Recorder Day was held at Lesnes Abbey Woods on 20th September 2025. The event was led by LNHS Plant Gall Recorder Tommy Root and attended by 17 participants. Plant galls are a diverse group of structures formed when insects, mites, fungi or other organisms invade plant tissues. They come in a wide range of shapes and colours and, while often unusual in appearance, generally do not cause substantial harm to the plants they grow on. Across the day, participants generated 187 records including 44 gall-forming species.
Oak trees proved especially productive, with many gall-forming species present at Lesnes. A large Turkey Oak Quercus cerris hosted the galls of the mite Aceria cerrea and the sexual generation galls of the wasp Andricus grossulariae. At a nearby English Oak Quercus robur we observed the spiky green galls of the agamic generation of A. grossulariae, a single Ram’s Horn Gall Andricus aries, and numerous Knopper Galls Andricus quercuscalicis scattered beneath the tree.
Recording in the parkland added additional discoveries on ornamental trees and shrubs, including the artichoke-like galls of Taxomyia taxi on Yew Taxus baccata and the pouch-like swellings of Dasineura urticae on Common Nettle Urtica dioica.
In the afternoon we moved to the woodland margin. A Sessile Oak Quercus petraea here yielded four additional cynipid wasp galls, and nearby elm leaves held mite galls of Aceria campestricola. Additional species from the woodland edge and interior included the fungal galls of Taphrina populina, leaf pustule galls of the wasp Ophelimus maskelli on Eucalyptus, the ‘lighthouse’ gall of the midge Hartigiola annulipes on Beech Fagus sylvatica and galls of the recently arrived Oriental Chestnut Gall Wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus on Sweet Chestnut Castanea sativa.
🌱 Meadow Botany Field Recorder Day (24/07/2025)
A Meadow Botany Field Recorder Day was held at Lesnes Abbey Woods on 24th July 2025. The event was led by botanist and joint-Middlesex county plant recorder Henry Miller and attended by 26 participants. Given the focus of the day was specifically on meadow botany, we focused our recording for the day on the grassland areas to the north of the Lesnes Abbey Woods site, rather than venturing in the woodland. The participants split into groups and focused on finding as many different plant species as possible within assigned 100 × 100 m grid cells. Across the day, participants generated an impressive 286 total records and recorded 94 different plant species.
Three of the most notable species found on the day included:
- Tower Mustard Turritis glabra – An uncommon plant typically associated with free-draining, nutrient-poor sandy soils in, for example, lowland acid grassland or in periodically disturbed marginal habitats. The species is considered ‘very local and declining’ at the national level.
- Lesser Calamint Clinopodium calamintha – Another site rarity. This is a short-lived herb fond of south-facing banks and rough grassland. Formerly more widespread, it is now largely confined to roadsides, hedgebanks, railway banks, old pits, scrubby grassland, churchyards and waste ground.
- Fiddle Dock Rumex pulcher – One of the more uncommonly recorded species of dock, distinctive for its violin-shaped basal leaves. It is fond of slightly disturbed grassland, often where the habitat is grazed, trampled or mown.
Project Achievements
Details of our overall achievements and findings coming here soon…
This series of events is a collaboration between the Biological Recording Company and the London Borough of Bexley commissioned as part of the Lesnes 500 project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund..
Biological Recording Projects
At the Biological Recording Company, we specialise in planning and delivering projects centred around recording wildlife and training naturalists.
- London Recording Projects involve the delivery of events from our Field Recorder Day, Invertebrate Study Day, Earthworm Sampling Day and Training Course programmes. Examples include:
- Site-based projects, such as Wild Tolworth, Ealing Beaver Project and Lesnes 500.
- Borough-based projects, such as our Southwark and Barnet projects.
- Earthworm Projects range from identification training and earthworm surveys to research and consultation. Example include:
- Engagement-focused projects, such as delivering earthworm recorder training in Northern Ireland and working with farmers in the Chilterns.
- Research-focused projects, such as looking at the impact of hay meadow restoration on earthworm communities, assessing the effectiveness of regenerative farming practices and investigating the use of AI in earthworm identification.
- National Biological Recording Projects entail putting our expertise to use with helping other organisations improve the biological recording processes and reach new audiences.
- Training projects include developing online training for Lepidoptera verifiers and producing guidance on the use of Record Cleaner and iRecord.
- Consultation projects include reviewing the pay of natural history tutors and working with the British Mycological Society to improve fungus record quality and data flow.