Flower-book for Athelney
As we monitor our sites we take photographs and notes of the wildlife seen. While only anecdotal, it helps to build a picture of the changes on the sites, and also is a great way to learn about the plants and animals that make it their home. This is particularly easy with plants and flowers (they can’t run or fly away), and over time it will create a flower-book or gazetteer of the species spotted on the site.
This page started out as an online social media thread of a few of the species we have seen and taken (rough) photos of at Athelney in its first two years of rewilding, but there is no harm in keeping a bit of a list on the website too.
But first, a reminder.. this is how it looked in June 2022, before we bought it, and now in 2024. Since rewilding began all livestock have been removed from the site to allow the land to rest.
Here is a selection of some of the flowers we have noted and photographed - note that there are many many more, including some extremely common ones like silverweed, and we will continue to add to this section in future.
BUT... this is a rewilding project, which means everything may one day change. Already large numbers of oak and willow saplings are poking up in some places, and in the future the site may look very different as parts transition to wet marshy forest. But that is okay. Rewilding is about the journey and the processes, and about letting nature take the lead and learning to let go, not about achieving a fixed outcome.
As ever if you like what we are doing please do support us, as we cannot do this without you.
Oak and willow saplings at Athelney.
