During 2024 Friends’ volunteers are charting the incidence and distribution of the flora, fauna and fungi present in the Park by taking photographs of what wildlife they observe and sending them in for posting on our website. This opportunity to submit pictures is also open to website viewers – just tell us where in the Park you took the photographs. More important than picture quality is the record that is produced.
By better knowing what biodiversity exists we can more appropriately plan and carry out our practical tasks in the Park. All the photographs will be saved for easy future reference in the Gallery part of our website, but many will initially be featured in news posts like this one.
This first post in the series includes spring flowers, wildfowl on the lake, a fungus and a colourful beetle. Already this year Snowdrops and Daffodils have been featured in previous posts, however most of these specimens have grown from bulb stock that has been introduced into the Park. The Survey will concentrate on wild species.
Taking the opportunity to flower before the dense tree leaf canopy develops, Wood Anemones are now, in late March, blooming profusely in many locations alongside the main path from Ackhurst Lodge and elsewhere. See the picture below that also shows a Wild Garlic plant that will itself soon be flowering.
Less extensive are Celandines – in the same approximate location but again elsewhere in the Park, such as pictured below here under the Lime tree next to the lake.
The lake next to Astley Hall is also home to a variety of wild fowl. Pictured below is first a Mallard and then a pair of Canada Geese (PS both these birds have heads!).
Around the Park there are numerous tree stumps and laid down trunks. These offer ideal opportunities for fungi to grow. Pictured below is a colony of Bracket Fungi on a stump next to the Hallgate car park just outside the Walled Garden.
Finally in this post is an insect specimen admittedly seen last year near the Green Pond behind the Lost Fountain. It is a Hawthorne Shieldbug which is about 1.5cm long – see below.
Friends of Astley Park 