Nature

Espe Folke- og Tumle Park was built in an old gravel pit area from which the last gravel was excavated around YYYY. This is why the plant life bears the mark of the area, which is in part very sandy and in part very young. Wild carrot predominates in the pastures and in areas with no grass the tansy brightens up the landscape with its yellow buttons.

A pond has been dug out in the area, which has actually been made in order to replace the waterhole lost in connection with the construction of the motorway between Odense and Svendborg. A small population of a relatively rare toad species, the natterjack toad, lives here. The small pond can sometimes swarm with tadpoles but if the summer is dry, the pond can disappear completely. Of course, this is not good for the tadpoles which have not had enough time to grow but at the same time it means that fish and other enemies die too, which is very good for the generations to emerge in the next years.

The Queen of Spain fritillary flies in the area.

The tachinid fly is one of the permanent inhabitants of the area. It is literary called “Oskar the fly” in Danish. Another fun fact is that it is related to the giant tachinid fly, literary called “Harald the fly” in Danish.

In some parts of the area, sheep are put out to pasture, while in other parts the grass is cut to make room for the vegetation and animals that actually need that space There are quite a lot of butterflies flying around in the area, and you can also notice the Queen of Spain fritillary, especially late in the summer. The place offers plenty of other things to explore and numerous adventures. Amongst the many curious finds here is a rare mushroom, the small Pholiotina teneroides. More information about it can be found here.

Wild carrot predominates in the area in August.