Cemetery Wildlife – February 2023

February 27, 2023February 27, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife2 Comments

The last full month of winter was a very dry one, with hardly any rainfall. It looks set to be one of the driest on record. There were a few cold frosty days but February was generally a mild month, with plenty of sunshine and some days with much warmer than normal temperatures. Despite the lack of rain, green shoots are starting to appear on many of the trees and shrubs and the Spring Bank West verge is showing plenty of new growth. The rainfall of previous months probably left the ground wet enough to sustain this growth and the cemetery wildlife.

Plants and Flowers

The Celandines I mentioned in my January report are now opening up in good numbers along the Spring Bank West verge. I’ve also seen plenty of them inside the cemetery. They provide an important source of food for the smaller branch of the cemetery wildlife, and are featured above.

Another early flowering plant is the Blackthorn. Every time I walk past a particular one it has more and more flowers open. The flowers appear before the leaves.

Blackthorn flowers and buds — *Blackthorn*

February is the peak time for Snowdrops in the cemetery, and there are now a few Daffodils starting to open.

Daffodils growing near the workhouse graves area of the cemetery — Daffodils

I saw the above ones inside the cemetery but there are also some open on the grass verge. There are probably over a dozen different varieties of Daffodils growing in and around the cemetery. But at the moment there are just the variety pictured above and a few miniature Tete-a-Tete ones to be seen. The latter were planted by the volunteers a couple of years ago.

I also spotted some tiny purple flowers near one of the headstones. These are Common Dog-Violets.

I also spotted a couple of Dandelions in flower. It won’t be long before the Forsythia near the main gates is in full bloom because a few flowers have already started to open.

I’m now seeing lots of ripe Ivy berries – great food for the feathered branch of the cemetery wildlife. I’ve seen Wood Pigeons, Blackbirds and Blackcaps eating them.

Ripe Ivy berries - good food for the cemetery wildlife — *Ivy*

Insects

How nice it is to be writing about insects again! Those warm, sunny days in mid-February helped the Celandines to flower and the insects to emerge. The highlight of the month for me was seeing my first Butterfly of the year – this Small Tortoiseshell – well before the end of the month. I’ve included a link at the end of this report for more information about these butterflies.

A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly seen on 21 February — *Small Tortoiseshell*

But a week before that, one of my fellow volunteers saw a Comma. It was also on the Spring Bank West verge.

Comma Butterfly seen on the grass verge alongside the cemetery on 15 February — *Comma*

I’m hoping to see a quite a few more different species of butterfly in the coming months. It will be interesting to see what the new plants set by the volunteers back in November might attract.

I also got a quick glimpse of a Bee – possibly a White-tailed Bumblebee – feeding on Snowdrops. But the most abundant insects were hoverflies and I saw at least three different species. This is a Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus). The ones seen early in the year sometimes have darker markings near the head than the ones seen in summer.

Marmalade Hoverfly on Celandine — *Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)*

Not all hoverflies have a common name but they do all have scientific names so I’ll use those as well.

Hoverfly - Syrphus ribesii — *Syrphus ribesii (above)*

Drone-fly on a Celandine in the cemetery — *Drone-fly (Eristalis tenax)*

Note how they’re all feeding on Celdandines, proving how essential this lovely little wildflower is to the cemetery wildlife in late winter. I also saw plenty of Ladybirds, all of which were the native Seven-spot ones. These are very easy to identify because they have three spots on each side of the outer casing (known as the elytra) and a seventh, larger spot straddling both parts of it at the top near the head.

seven-Spot Ladybird on an Ivy leaf — *Seven-Spot Ladybird*

Birds

The small birds of the cemetery are very active, starting to form pairs and checking out nesting sites, including this pair of Robins. They seem to prefer low shrubs and bushes in the cemetery whereas the Blue Tits tend to use the various nest boxes around the site.

A pair of Robins near one of the graves in the cemetery — *Robins (above)*

I also saw Goldcrests very high up in the trees, Wood Pigeons, Magpies, Stock Doves and Carrion Crows. I was able to get quite close to this one, but as soon as it saw me looking it was off!

Carrion Crow on one of the paths in the cemetery — *Carrion Crow*

Two of my fellow volunteers did their RSPB Birdwatch in the cemetery, and saw a Sparrowhawk. I’ve added this to the cemetery bird list I’m compiling, making it 19 different species now.

Conclusion

Spring is just around the corner. Why not enjoy a stroll around the cemetery while the footpaths are still dry and enjoy the sight of hundreds of Snowdrops carpeting the ground? And don’t forget to look out for the cemetery wildlife too – be sure to look up as well as down though!

Link to more information about Small Tortoiseshell butterflies:-

https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/small-tortoiseshell

Helen Bovill

Helen is a keen photographer and nature lover. She spent a large part of her working life at the Land Registry. She is a member of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and various other similar organisations. Living close to the Cemetery for over 30 years she has seen the fortunes of the site fluctuate and has joined the FOHGC to make a positive difference.

Cemetery Wildlife – January 2023

January 29, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife1 Comment

This month has been a typical midwinter one, with a mix of weather including a week of sub-zero starts to the day. The temperature barely rose above freezing on those days but they were sunny and the frozen footpaths were a lot easier to walk on. Despite the cold temperatures and heavy frost everywhere there was still plenty of cemetery wildlife around.

Birds

A Wood Pigeon looking for berries on the Ivy — **Wood Pigeon**

At the start of the year, I decided I’d start making a list of all the different species of bird I saw within the city boundary. I’m curious to find out how many I can see in a year. At the time of writing I’ve seen a total of 40, 16 of which were in the cemetery. The cemetery ones are Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Robin, Wren, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Goldcrest and Dunnock.

Dunnock on the ground in the cemetery — **Dunnock**

One of our volunteers also saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Treecreeper, making a total of 18 bird species seen in the cemetery this year so far. I’ll add to my cemetery list any additional species I see throughout the year and publish the final results in my December 2023 report. Let’s see what rarities or unusual visitors (if any) turn up this year!

I’ve also noticed some activity around the nest boxes as the birds, especially the Tit species, start looking for nesting sites.

Plants

There are now plenty of Snowdrops flowering in clusters around the cemetery. I’ve seen two types – an elongated flower that has a single layer of petals, and a rounder one with a double layer.

A lone single Snowdrop in the sunshine — **Single Snowdrop (above)**

A cluster of double Snowdrops in the Quaker Burial Ground section of the cemetery — **Double Snowdrops**

The Celandines growing in the grass verge alongside Spring Bank West have just started to flower. I saw the first bud in mid-January and they’re almost fully open now. There are only a handful to see at the moment though, and easy to miss as you walk past. The Daffodils are starting to poke the tips of their leaves up through the grass, and a few very early buds are also visible.

Celandine growing in the grass verge on Spring Bank West alongside the cemetery — **Celandine**

Flowers are not just found growing low near to the ground. Look up and you can also see them growing high on the trees in the form of catkins.

The male and female flowers of the Hazel — **Hazel**

The long catkins on this Hazel are male. But Hazel also contains female catkins on the same tree, although the tree cannot pollinate itself. Look closely at the bottom left corner of the photo and also near the top right and you can see the female flowers. They’re just a few red tendrils at the end of a tiny bud.

There are still some berries to sustain the cemetery wildlife, including the ones on this bush, a variety of Skimmia. It looks like some have already been eaten. There are still some berries on the Holly, and the berries are now starting to form on the Ivy although they’re still green. I didn’t find any ripe black ones but I noticed the birds, especially Wood Pigeons, looking for them.

Red berries on a bush in the cemetery — **Skimmia**

I didn’t find any ripe brambles but the leaves look great when covered in frost!

Heavy frost on Bramble leaves — **Bramble**

Fungi

I’ve seen various types of fungi in the cemetery this month. Even in the depths of winter they manage to survive, especially these Velvet Shank that can withstand being frozen solid. The cemetery wildlife must have had difficulty eating them in that state, although they did still show some signs of having been pecked or nibbled.

Some frozen Velvet Shank mushrooms heavily covered in frost — **Velvet Shank frozen on a log**

And look at the thick layer of ice on top of this large, tough bracket fungus, making it difficult to say what species it is.

A bracket fungus with a layer of ice on top — **Bracket Fungus**

I also saw some Candlesnuff Fungus growing around an old tree stump. It’s also known as Stag’s Horn Fungus.

The Antler-like fruiting body of a Candlesnuf Fungus on a tree stump in the cemetery — **Candlesnuff Fungus**

Mammals

The cold weather hasn’t stopped the Squirrels from being as active as they always are. I haven’t seen any foxes but I’ve heard them whilst walking past the cemetery late at night. The females make a plaintive cry, especially at this time of year as it’s their mating season.

Conclusion

It’s been a quiet month for the cemetery wildlife but the birds are thriving. This is probably because the cemetery adjoins several houses, and some of them probably have some well-stocked feeders in their gardens. But I have seen a few tiny insects in the air which is good news for the insectivores! And although most of you will be reading this after the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch (27, 28 and 29 January) has finished you still have until 19 February to submit your results online. The link with more information is shown below. I hope you had an enjoyable hour watching the birds in your gardens!

Link to the RSPB website:-

Big Garden Birdwatch | The RSPB

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife – December 2022

December 30, 2022December 30, 2022 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife1 Comment

As I was away on holiday for most of the month, December’s column has been written by guest reporter Grace Mount, one of our local volunteers. Here is the cemetery wildlife she found, together with photographs, all taken by her. Enjoy!

December 2022

December started mild and cloudy. There were a few days that were bright and sunny but cold. There was also a far bit of precipitation. It got very cold in the second to third week of December. In places, frost did not thaw in the cemetery because of the low sun light. However, cemetery wildlife seems to have adapted to these conditions, as birds were seen tossing the leaves over to catch hidden worms and the squirrels were very active running about in the tree canopy.

December marks the end of Autumn and the beginning of Winter. The first day of Winter falling on the 21^st is known as the winter solstice which is the shortest day and the longest night.

At the beginning of the month there were still the remaining leaves on the deciduous trees, however most of these had fallen by mid December, leaving just the evergreens behind.

Flowers and Plants

Evergreen plants in the cemetery provide much needed food for the cemetery wildlife in the cold months of winter. Holly and Pyracanthas can be seen growing in the hedge row, along the edge of the cemetery on Spring Bank West. These provide small berries for the birds, such as Blackbirds and Song Thrushes.

Holly (common name) Ilex aquifolium (scientific name) has smooth glossy leaves with spiky edges. There are a handful of very beautiful Holly bushes which can be found growing along the cemetery footpaths including one which has a variegated leaf.

Holly with a variegated leaf growing in the cemetery — **Holly (Ilex aquifolium) with a variegated leaf pattern, and Holly berries (photo at beginning of report)**

Ivy (common name) or Hedera helix (scientific name) carpets the ground in places and can be seen growing up many of the trees; produces flowers in autumn which provides much needed food for Honeybees, and cover for the birds.

Ivy flowers in the cemetery — **Ivy in flower (above)**

Wildlife habitat in the form of Ivy — **Ivy climbing up a tree trunk (above and below)**

Something that was quite unusual for the time of year, which we found, was a single Snowdrop. It was growing and in flower in a spot in the Quaker burial ground. These would usually start to flower between January and March, with the daylight hours getting longer.

Snowdrop in the QBG part of the cemetery — **A single Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) in the Quaker burial ground**

Yew trees, another evergreen, can be found growing in the Quaker part of the cemetery along with laurels, again providing much needed cover for cemetery wildlife in the cold winter months.

Moss can be found growing on gravestones and fallen branches.

Moss on a fallen gravestone in the cemetery — **Some moss on a fallen grave**

Birds

For December we saw Robins pulling worms out of the ground and Blackbirds flicking leaves over in search of hidden insects. They were very active in the Quaker part of the cemetery. Magpies, Crows and Woodpigeons were also easy to spot with there being no leaves on the trees.

A Robin in the QBG — **Robin (above) and Blackbird (below)**

Mushrooms and Fungi

A selection of fungi also found in the cemetery.

Fungus — **Velvet Shank (above and both photos below)**

Conclusion

December was mild at first with a very uncomfortable cold snap in the middle becoming mild again towards the end of the month. The footpaths that had been muddy were well trodden but frozen hard on the coldest days. Despite the cold weather it seems the cemetery wildlife continues to give many delightful and unexpected surprises with beautiful fungi, traditional seasonal evergreens, out of season flowers and amusing antics from the birds and squirrels.

Grace is home educated, following her interests of nature and animal studies. She loves birds and has helped the volunteers in HGC with monitoring and recording of the nest boxes. She frequently enjoys walks through the cemetery, litter picking and taking note of the changing seasons.

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife – November 2022

November 28, 2022 by Helen Bovillin News, Volunteers, Wildlife

What a wet month this has been! It was still quite mild at the start, but it got colder towards the end and there was even a light frost on at least one of those days. Despite all the rain the volunteers still managed to set hundreds of wildflower plants in the grass verge along Spring Bank West. These were provided by the Council and some of the Council officers also helped us to plant them. This will hopefully help to increase the biodiversity of the cemetery wildlife. We are all looking forward to seeing the plants growing and flowering next year!

Birds

I’ve started this report with a Goldfinch because her bright colours were a welcome sight on a dull, wet day. The difference between the male and female of this species is very subtle – please see link at the end of this report containing more information.

I’ve seen plenty of Blue Tits, Great Tits and Chaffinches in the cemetery. These seem to be the commonest of the small birds – I see them every day without fail. Small groups of Chaffinches can often be seen feeding on the ground. The females are pale brown and at a glance can sometimes look like Sparrows.

I usually see at least one Robin although there are several of these highly territorial and inquisitive birds around. I also saw a small flock of Long-tailed Tits calling to each other as they foraged for insects in the trees.

I’m happy to report regular sightings of Coal Tits again. These are the same size, possibly slightly smaller, than Blue Tits.

As you can see it lacks the blue and yellow colours of the Blue Tit and instead has light brown sides. It has a white patch on top of its black head.

Nest Box Survey and Maintenance

Earlier this month we did our annual check of the nest boxes to see which ones had been used. To qualify as “used” the box had to contain a complete nest. Many of those nests were tightly packed into the nest boxes – note the slightly squared corners of this one.

We found a variety of materials had been used. The one above seems to have been made from a white man-made material (possibly some sort of stuffing) and the outside of a tennis ball (green material). But most were made of mainly natural materials such as moss and plant stems.

We also found a few of the boxes contained unhatched eggs – more than last year. I wonder if the hot summer weather encouraged the birds to try for a second or even a third brood? The cold weather would then have arrived before the eggs had time to hatch. One nest contained a dead chick that hadn’t managed to fledge and another nest contained the skeleton of what appeared to be a chick. We also found quite a lot of woodlice in the nests. All the old nests and nest material were removed from the boxes leaving them nice and clear for next year’s inhabitants.

Conclusion of Survey

We checked a total of 51 boxes and found that 31 of them had been used, giving an occupancy rate of 60.78%. It’s impossible to produce a completely scientific analysis of what constitutes a successful nest box because there are so many different factors involved. Design of box, size of entrance hole, position in the cemetery such as being near houses, near a road or footpath and so on all have to be considered.

Nevertheless a pattern has emerged over the 3 years we’ve been monitoring the nest boxes. It seems the boxes in the most central parts of the cemetery were least likely to be used; those near the footpaths had good occupancy rates. This includes the footpath nearest to Spring Bank West. This was a surprise considering how busy that road can often be. We also have a total of 13 boxes that have been used every year. But it does seem that we now have more than enough boxes for the existing bird population.

And the inhabitants of the boxes? Mainly Blue Tits, Great Tits and possibly Coal Tits. And Pigeons in the only one of the two Owl boxes we have that had been occupied this year. The other Owl box had not been used and still contained the nesting material we’d put there (as recommended) in the same condition that we left it in. Good proof that our boxes are nice and waterproof!

Trees and Plants

There were some lovely colours on the trees in the early and middle parts of the month.

The rain really brought out those colours, especially on the leaves of the Norway Maples.

There are still plenty of fruits on the Pyracantha and the Holly, and I even found some Brambles still ripening. But all are great sources of food for the cemetery wildlife to eat.

There were hardly any plants in flower this month. I did manage to find some Red Campion though.

I can usually rely on the grass verge along Spring Bank West to provide some flowers, but this month I only found a couple of Dandelions and a bit of Groundsel. The flowers of the Groundsel never open fully – instead they stay compacted in a tubular shape that’s slightly wider at the top.

But because we set so many new plants along the grass verge it should look even better than usual next Spring and Summer. I’ll be able to tell you which have flourished because I’ve been monitoring the verge for a few years now and I know what’s usually there.

Insects and Other Small Creatures

I saw one butterfly right at the start of the month, this female Large White. She looked a bit faded and her two black spots were only just visible. The male has no spots.

I still keep seeing Ladybirds in various places around the cemetery, and hoverflies and bees feeding on the Ivy flowers. Then I found these on a fallen log a few days ago and wondered what they could be.

It turns out they’re either snail or slug eggs. I think they’re most likely to be slug eggs because I couldn’t see any shell markings on their insides. I will keep checking them though, provided they don’t get eaten by the cemetery wildlife!

Mushrooms

November has been a good month for mushrooms and fungi, including Velvet Shank and Jelly Ear. But as usual I haven’t been able to identify all of them for certain. I also noticed some Silverleaf Fungus starting to appear again on the same fallen log as in previous years.

Conclusion

November has been a very wet month but it hasn’t prevented the volunteers from carrying out the jobs we usually do at this time of the year. This includes placing poppies on the headstones of the war dead. And for the first time, both of our commemorative bird boxes (one for WW1 and the other for WW2) have been occupied. But both of them by birds I hasten to add. It is very rewarding to see human-related objects being used by the cemetery wildlife!

Link to more information on those commemorated on the nest boxes:- https://friendsofhullgeneralcemetery.com/history/war-dead/

Link to information on the differences between male and female Goldfinches:- https://birdfact.com/articles/female-european-goldfinches

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife October 2022

October 29, 2022October 29, 2022 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife2 Comments

October has been a typical mid-Autumn month, with a mixture of rain, cool dull days and warmer than average sunny days. The cemetery and grass verge are green and healthy, and there are plenty of berries and fungi to provide sustenance for the cemetery wildlife. The Summer drought seems to be a distant memory.

Trees and Shrubs

Many of the trees and shrubs are now bearing fruit.

There is plenty of Pyracantha growing along the back of the grass verge. It looks particularly vibrant at the moment and makes up for the lack of colourful flowers elsewhere.

Pyracantha on edge of cemetery — **Pyracantha**

There are some fruits on one of the Yew trees growing at the front of the grass verge. But these fruits are actually known as arils rather than berries because the seed is not fully enclosed. Were you to look inside the red casing you would see the seed at the back of it. My description of them in last month’s report is therefore incorrect!

I’ve also seen berries on some of the Holly bushes growing in various places inside the cemetery and a few of the bramble bushes still have fruit ripening on them.

The ground is becoming covered in the fruits of many of the cemetery’s trees, including the Lime. This particular one caught my attention because of the large knobbly growths on its trunk. These are known as burrs. I’ve inserted a link at the end of this report containing more information about what causes them.

The trees and shrubs are also starting to show some lovely autumnal colours, including this Forsythia growing at the side of the entrance gates. This is the shrub that provides a glorious array of yellow flowers in the springtime.

Forsythia at the cemetery gates — **Forsythia with Greenbottle and Ladybird**

Flowers

I didn’t find many flowers this month. Not the traditional-looking ones anyway. There is still some Ragwort growing on the grass verge, together with a few Dandelions and some Smooth Sow-thistle.

Ragwort on the grass verge beside the cemetery — **Ragwort (above)**

Smooth Sow-thistle growing near the cemetery — **Smooth Sow-thistle (above)**

However, there is an abundance of flowers on the Ivy plants that are growing skywards all around the cemetery. They provide a great source of food for the insect branch of the cemetery wildlife. On a sunny day they are abuzz with the sound of Bees and other small insects.

Dronefly on Ivy Flower — **Ivy Flower with European Dronefly**