Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is inviting families, individuals and community groups to join wildlife experts in its first annual BioBlitz to be held on the Park on Saturday, July 27.

Everyone is welcome to come and help record the wide range of plants and animals in the area and enjoy the wonderful parkland created since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Experts from leading conservation groups like Buglife, Bumblebee Conservation and the RSPB will be joined by biologists and ecologists from UCL, idverde and Park Champions to lead guided walks around the Park.

Activities include Bee and Dragonfly walks, botanical tours, insect counts, pond dipping, camera trapping and insect painting.

The Park has 10 different habitat types including wildflower meadows, woodlands and wetlands. These areas are home to some rare plants and animals including the streaked bombardier beetle, black redstarts, sand martins, black poplar trees, reed buntings, the brown-banded carder bee, cetti’s warbler and seven species of bats.

The Park boasts more than 300,000 wetland plants, 150 bat boxes and 544 bird boxers spread across more than 48 hectares of new habitat.

Ruth Lin Wong Holmes, Head of Landscape and Public Realm, at London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “It’s exciting to be hosting our first BioBlitz in the Park. It’s such a great way to gather vital information and enjoying the wonderful nature around us. The Park is a great way to connect people with nature and we can tell more exciting stories about the wildlife with the data collected on days like this.”

Here’s what you need to know to take part:

When: Saturday, July 27 - 9am – 2pm (you take part for as long as you like)

Where: 

- South Hub: UCL East Community Classroom – One Pool Street, E20 2AF   ///teams.forms.forest

- North Hub: Hackney Bridge Gardens, E Bay Ln, London E15 2SJ   ///offers.lakes.supply

Sign up: Places are limited on the guided walks so please sign up here

Equipment: No special equipment is necessary but the iRecord app will help capture your wildlife records. Download here. Please dress sensibly for the weather.

Accessibility: The Park is designed to be as accessible and inclusive as possible. There is step-free access, hard standing, regular seating and a Park Mobility service – more details here.