Abney Park is Hackney’s first Local Nature Reserve. Opened in 1840, two and a half thousand trees were planted creating a garden cemetery of 13 hectares - central London's largest woodland. Resident bird species include Sparrowhawk, Tawny Owl and Coal Tit. Scarcer visitors include Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla, left, often seen in Autumn), Pied Flycatcher and Lesser Redpoll. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Treecreeper have been recorded.

Butterflies include the largest inner London population of the Speckled Wood. Purple and White-letter Hairstreaks are found here. Silver-washed Fritillary is recorded every few years.

Nationally scarce invertebrates include the fly Leopoldius brevirostris, the hoverfly Pocota personata and the Girdled Mining Bee (Andrena labiata).

Approximately four hundred plant species have been recorded in Abney Park. Wildflowers of note include Wood Spurge and Hairy St. John’s Wort (neither believed to grow elsewhere in Hackney), Deadly Nightshade, Enchanter’s Nightshade, Dog’s Mercury, Ivy Broomrape, Wood Forget-me not, Lesser Celandine, Creeping Jenny, and Hoary Ragwort.

About three hundred species of fungi have been found including scarce Earthstars and Dyer's Mazegill (Phaeolus schweinitzii) which is scarce in London.

Allens Gardens

Created in 1868, the main entrance is in Bethune Road, north of Abney Park. An attractive, small, woody public park beside Holmleigh Cuttings west bank nature reserve it's home to woodland species and warblers. In March 2005 up to 30 Waxwings roosted. The Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis, photo, in fact a legless lizard) has been found in Allens Gardens and adjacent Holmleigh Cuttings - the only place in Stoke Newington they have been recorded.