Berries Archives - Friends Of Hull General Cemetery

Cemetery Wildlife – September 2023

September 29, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife

September started off unusually hot. Temperatures reached the high 20s, possibly even 30, in the first week, qualifying as a heatwave. An unexpected end to the summer here! The trees still had all their leaves though, giving plenty of shade to cool down the cemetery wildlife. As a result, the ground remained damp throughout this period. Autumn officially started in the last half of the month, and it started with quite a few rainy days. Some of the rainfall was quite heavy and the paths are rather muddy again. High winds brought down a few medium-sized branches but no major damage was caused.

Birds

I started this report with one of the two Coal Tits I’ve been seeing regularly this month. These little birds are very slightly smaller than Blue Tits but their colouring is quite different.

Blue Tit on Elderberries, with one in its beak — **Blue Tit and Elderberries**

There is plenty of food for the birds now because of the berries on many of the trees and shrubs. The Elderberry bushes with their fruitful abundance are particularly popular as you can see from the photo above. I saw other species that are light enough to perch on their thin stems too, such as Chaffinches and Blackcaps.

A female Blackcap and a male Chaffinch perched in an Elderberry tree — **Blackcap (female, left) and Chaffinch (male, right)**

Blackbirds like the Elderberries too!

A Blackbird perched in an Elderberry tree — **Blackbird – the brown head indicates this is a young male, still to get his full Winter plumage**

Other birds I’ve seen this month are Goldfinches, Wrens, Great Tits, Robins, Wood Pigeons, Crows, Magpies and Dunnocks. I haven’t had any more sightings of the Bullfinches I saw a couple of months ago. A visitor to the cemetery told me he’d heard a Tawny Owl calling in the area near the Owl boxes. Our end of year survey of the bird boxes should reveal whether or not they’ve nested in the cemetery this year.

Plants

The Pyracantha bushes are now laden with berries, adding some welcome colour and providing food for the cemetery wildlife.

Red Pyracantha berries on the verge alongside the cemetery — **Pyracantha**

A one metre strip of grass along the verge on Spring Bank West was cut by the Council earlier in the month during the hot weather. The rain that arrived mid-month helped the regrowth, and there are now a few Dandelions flowering. The Musk Mallow has survived the cut, and a small clump of Ragwort is still in flower.

The yellow flowers of the Ragwort, on the grass verge alongside the cemetery — **Ragwort**

The Ivy is now in flower, but generally there were not many flowers to be seen in September. I did see a few flowers on one of the bramble bushes, and on this Ribwort Plantain.

The white flowers of the Ribwort Plantain on the grass verge alongside the cemetery — **Ribwort Plantain**

It’s easy to miss these flowers, which look quite different to other more traditionally shaped ones. I also found some Cyclamen growing in the cemetery near the Cholera Monument.

Pink flowers of Cyclamen, growing in the cemetery — **Cyclamen**

The main things to be found on the plants at the moment are berries as already mentioned, and seeds such as on this Dock.

The dried brown seeds of the Dock plant — **Dock seeds**

Insects and other small creatures

I’ll start with Butterflies, as they’re still around in September but in much smaller numbers. I’ve seen Small White, Large White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood. I can always rely on the latter for a photo, and they often fly on overcast days as well as sunny ones.

A Speckled Wood butterfly on a Hogweed seed head — **Speckled Wood on a Hogweed seed head**

I’ve also caught brief glimpses of the occasional Dragonfly around the cemetery, but none have landed anywhere so identification wasn’t possible. It’s surprising to see them here, especially as there is no pond or other source of water in the cemetery. The abundance of vegetation and damp areas most probably explains their presence.

There are still plenty of hoverflies and bees around, making the most of the flowers on the Ivy. Large queen bees are feeding up on the nectar to sustain themselves during their winter hibernation.

A Queen Buff-Tailed Bumblebee nectaring on Ivy flowers — **Queen Buff-Tailed Bumblebee nectaring on Ivy flowers**

Snails are not insects of course – they’re molluscs – but I thought this White-lipped one was worthy of inclusion because of its attractive shell. It seems to be one of our regular species and stands out nicely on dried plant stems.

A White-lipped Snail crawling up a dried plant stem — **White-lipped Snail**

Conclusion

It’s been a quiet month, with nothing unusual to report as far as the cemetery wildlife is concerned. I occasionally hear a fox calling later in the evenings, and they do live in the cemetery. They seem very wary and secretive though. However, a regular volunteer had a good view of a fox early one evening.

When you spend a lot of the time in the cemetery, either volunteering or just enjoying a leisurely stroll, you get to see certain individual animals that stand out from the rest. Here’s one such animal – I call this squirrel Nick because of those distinctive tears or nicks in both ears. Whether these were present at birth or if they’re the result of a disagreement with another squirrel I don’t know. But here he (or she) is!

A Grey Squirrel climbing up a tree in the cemetery — **That’s all folks. See you next month!**

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 – September 2022

September 29, 2022October 3, 2022 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife1 Comment

The first week of September started well, with a few heavy though not prolonged showers providing some much-needed moisture to sustain the cemetery wildlife.

September contains the first day of Autumn, regardless of what day Autumn begins, be it the 1^st (meteorological) or the 23^rd (astronomical). There were already plenty of fallen leaves carpeting the ground at the start of the month – these had already started to fall in August due to the hot dry weather of that month. This is known as a “False Autumn”, where the trees relinquish their leaves early in order to save water.

Flowers and Plants

That rain arrived not a moment too soon, and the grass verge alongside the cemetery on Spring Bank West is green again. Dandelions have reappeared together with some similar looking but smaller yellow flowers – Autumn Hawkbit and Cats-ear.

Autumn Hawkbit on the grass verge alongside the cemetery — ***Autumn Hawkbit (above)***

Cat's-ear - flower and leaf — **Cat’s-ear (above)**

The two plants look very similar, but the Hawkbit has red markings under the petals and smooth leaves. Cat’s-ear has hairy leaves. The Ragwort is also flowering again, and I found some Hedge Mustard and Wood Avens – both have tiny yellow flowers.

I didn’t find many plants in flower this month. Most of the ones I found have yellow flowers but I did find some Common Hogweed and Daisies (white flowers) and some Cyclamen.

Cyclamen growing inside the cemetery — ***Cyclamen***

I also found some Oxalis on one of the footpaths in the cemetery, but just a few leaves and no flowers.

Oxalis leaves in the cemetery — ***Oxalis***

Lots of the trees and shrubs in the cemetery now have berries on them – a great source of food for the cemetery wildlife. In the Quaker Burial Ground the Yew trees have produced lots of berries.

Walking past there towards Western Cemetery, the Broad-leaved Whitebeam at the end of the path has lots of orange berries on it.

The orange berries of the Whitebeam — **Broad-leaved Whitebeam**

The naturalised Rose bushes inside the Cemetery have some fruits or hips on them.

Rose hips - perfect for the cemetery wildlife — **Rose Hips**

The Blackthorn has some berries too, although I only found them as either singles or growing in groups of two or three.

Blackthorn or Sloe Berries in the cemetery — **Blackthorn or Sloe Berries**

Many of the Bramble plants fruited quite early but there are still some fruits at all stages of ripening on the plants, including some uneaten fruits. The seeds inside those fruits are still very useful to birds such as Bullfinches. The Dogwood bushes have plenty of black berries on them – a particular favourite of Wood Pigeons and Blackbirds it seems.

Birds

This month I’m going to feature those members of the Corvid family that can be found in the Cemetery, namely Carrion Crows and Magpies. There are several of each to be seen. Both make a particularly loud cawing noise, sometimes an indication of a predator lurking nearby.

A Carrion Crow on a branch high up in the cemetery — ***Carrion Crow (above)***

A Magpie in the cemetery — **Magpie (above)**

The Corvid family also includes Rooks, Ravens and Jays. I’ve never seen any of these in the Cemetery but a couple of Jays have been seen in the adjoining Western Cemetery by a visitor a few months ago.

The usual smaller birds are around in good numbers – Blackbirds, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins and Wrens. I also saw a Coal tit – usually I see a couple of them most days but I haven’t seen any for a few weeks, so it was nice to finally see one again. I also caught brief glimpses of a Blackcap and a Treecreeper.

Insects

And now a first for the Cemetery – a Southern Oak Bush-cricket. These are relatively new arrivals to the UK, the first records being in the south of the country in 2001. They’re expanding northwards, and this could be one of the most northerly sightings so far. They’re usually found high up in the tree canopy but also appear in lower shrubs. This one is a female.

Southern Oak Bush-cricket on a headstone in the cemetery — **Southern Oak Bush-cricket**

There are still a few Butterflies around – I saw a Red Admiral near the Cholera Monument, and a Small White along the grass verge. The species I’ve seen most often though is the Speckled Wood, often flying high up in the trees and then coming to rest on the ground.

Speckled Wood inside the cemetery — **Speckled Wood**

There are still plenty of Ladybirds around, both native and Harlequin. I found quite a lot on the sunny sides of headstones as well as on the vegetation. This 7-Spot is one of our native species.

7-Spot Ladybird on an Oak leaf in tjee cemetery — **7-Spot Ladybird on Turkey Oak Leaf**

I’m also still seeing hoverflies, including this Common Banded one.

**Common Banded Hoverfly on Autumn Hawkbit**

Mushrooms

I found this interesting mushroom growing on a grave – it’s a type of Bolete. It started off larger and paler than in the photo and now it’s shrivelled to a much smaller size. Parts have been eaten by the cemetery wildlife too.

A mushroom growing out of a grave in the cemetery — **Bolete Mushroom – side and top views**

There are quite a number of mushrooms in the cemetery at the moment. They can be quite difficult to identify accurately as their appearance can change quite quickly. This one started off smooth on top, and now it has its own fungus on it!

Mushroom with its own fungus in the cemetery — **Mushroom with fungus**

There are some tiny Inkcaps growing along some of the paths, and jelly-like fungus on some fallen trees.

Inkcap mushroom in the cemetery

Jelly-type fungus on a fallen tree in the cemetery

Conclusion

The only significant rainfall was early in the month. Since then, it has been cool and the footpaths are dry again, making an early Autumn stroll around the cemetery easy. Do pop in there and look at the cemetery wildlife – you might spot something I haven’t noticed yet!

Robin on a headstone in the cemetery

Link to further information about fungi –

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/fungi-and-lichens/

Helen Bovill