One of the most important bird breeding areas in Southern England
Welsh Harp Open Space was created in 1965 as a nature reserve, with new paths and other facilities in the late C20th. It has had ornithological interest since the mid C19th, made known by such as Frederick Bond, who founded the 'Zoologist' magazine and who observed a number of rare birds here. James E Harting published his 'Birds of Middlesex' in 1866 in which he described Brent Reservoir as 'a paradise for an ornithologist'.