Tag: nature

Cemetery wildlife – May 2022

by Helen Bovillin Volunteers, Wildlife1 Comment on Cemetery wildlife – May 2022

CEMETERY WILDLIFE – MAY 2022

Weather-wise May has been a month of contrasts, with plenty of warm sunny days and some cooler days too.  But in the last half of the month, we had quite a few rainy days.  The rain wasn’t particularly heavy or persistent but there was enough of it to leave a few small puddles behind.  This will have been a most welcome sight to the cemetery wildlife, especially the birds and mammals.

Cemetery Wildlife April 2022

Trees and Plants

The leaves on the trees are now fully open.  The last to undergo this process is the Ash – at the beginning of the month the flowers appeared and the leaves started to open.  The leaves are now fully open and those flowers have started to develop into seeds, known as keys.

Ash

The above photo was taken at the beginning of the month.

The Laburnum the volunteers planted in the Quaker Burial Ground last year is thriving, and it produced lots of flowers, starting at the beginning of the month.

Laburnum

May is the best month to see the swathes of Wild Garlic growing throughout the cemetery.  It is also known as Ramsons and looks and smells wonderful!

wild garlic

The Bluebells looked at their best this month.  The vast majority of them are the non-native, Spanish variety planted many years ago and appear in pink and white varieties too.

Bluebells

There is also lots of Cow Parsley growing in the cemetery and on the grass verge.  Some Hogweed has started to appear too.  I was surprised to find an Oilseed Rape plant growing next to a tree on the grass verge!

Oil-Seed Rape

I’ve noticed plenty of Garlic Mustard growing in the cemetery and on the grass verge – a lot more than last year.  This is good news for the Orange-tip butterfly as this is one of its main larval food plants.

The Red Campion is now flowering – there is more of it than last year, on the grass verge and inside the cemetery in the grassy central area.  Herb Robert is in flower too along the southern footpath.

Red Campion

 

Herb Robert

There are not so many Dandelions in flower at the moment but there are plenty of other yellow wildflowers to be seen, including Buttercups, Smooth Sow-thistle, Hawks-beard, Wood Avens and Hedge Mustard.

Insects

It’s nice to be writing about something different because here’s an insect I saw for the first time ever, and it was the cemetery too!  It’s a Scarce Fungus Weevil or Cramp-ball Fungus Weevil and I saw four of them.

Scarce Fungus Weevil

You might recall back in December last year I wrote about this strange-looking fungus, called King Alfred’s Cakes or Cramp Balls, which at the time were quite solid.  The Weevil lays its eggs inside the fungus and some of the fungi are now quite hollow from having been eaten by the larvae.

There are lots of Ladybirds around – native species and Harlequins too.  There are plenty of Bees around, and hoverflies.  I also saw another Bee-fly.

Harlequin Ladybird

There are still Orange-tip butterflies in flight along the grass verge and inside the cemetery.  It’s been a very good year for these butterflies, not just here but in other parts of the county according to other people I’ve spoken to.

Orange-Tip (male)

I’ve also seen Holly Blues, Speckled Woods, Green-veined Whites and Small Whites. The white butterflies are very difficult to identify in flight but when they come to rest it’s much easier to confirm what they are.

Green-Veined Male and Female

Birds

Staying with the cemetery wildlife of the air, I got up very early on the first Sunday of the month for International Dawn Chorus Day.  There were so many birds singing, including Robins, Chaffinches, Blackbirds, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Thrushes, Wrens, Dunnocks and Blackcaps.  But as the leaves on the trees were almost fully open by then, it was very much a case of heard but (rarely) seen!  These are the best photos I could manage –

Wren

Dunnock (2)

Male Blackcap

I also caught a brief glimpse of a Fox during my Dawn Chorus walk – it darted across the footpath ahead of me but was gone before I could get my camera out.

Later in the month I saw a female Blackcap in the same area as a male I saw a couple of times.  I hope they’re a pair and will successfully raise some young.

The Chiffchaffs were still singing during the first half of the month but I haven’t heard any recently. I’ve also seen Long-tailed Tits and Goldfinches, and I caught a very brief glimpse of a Goldcrest.

There are plenty of the larger birds around, such as Carrion Crows, Magpies and Wood Pigeons.  I’ve seen four Stock Doves now – this is a species that used to be a rare sight in the cemetery a few years ago but now I see them every day.

Stock Doves on Turkey Oak

Conclusion

Just like last month, May has also been a month of abundance in terms of plant growth.  The leaves on the trees are fully open, providing a cool canopy to walk under on a hot sunny day.  And despite the rain the footpaths are still easy to walk on, but are a lot softer as I write this.  The perfect conditions for a relaxing stroll to admire our wonderful cemetery wildlife!

 

The Sycamore

by Pete Lowdenin Volunteers, Wildlife

A few years ago I found this article about Sycamores. I remembered it when there was some argument about the balance between environmental concerns and heritage aspects of the site. I was constantly being told that only native plants should be in the cemetery. Non-native species would harm the delicate eco-balance.

When I pointed out to those people that the Sycamore was not a native tree, was a poor habitat for insects and birds and was effectively smothering out the remaining native trees I was met with silence and dismissed. Par for the course I suppose. It was probably deemed ‘Fake News’ in the parlance of today. Anyway I let it pass but the information in the article is too relevant to the present state of the cemetery to forget about so here’s the piece. See what you think.

Council recognition of the problem

When discussing this issue with the Council officers I said that 85% of the trees on the site were Sycamore to which they agreed and they also thought it was a problem. I asked whether a ‘cut and replace’ system could be instigated. This would be that a sycamore could be cut down and replaced with a native tree. They were honest and said the Council could not afford it and they were glad that the FOHGC were doing what they could in this area.

‘Controlling the Invader’

CONTROLLING THE INVADER by Pierre Binggeli published in Tree News Autumn 1994, 14-15.

In Britain sycamore has been the source of much debate based chiefly on people’s personal biases for or against the species rather than on factual evidence. This is not restricted to sycamore but applies to many invasive plant species (e.g. rhododendron) and often result from a poor understanding of ecology and more importantly, from the transfer of human values to plants (Binggeli 1994). In Tree News (summer 1993) Morton Boyd wrote about the pros and cons of sycamore in nature conservation and, having investigated the biology and ecology of sycamore over the past 15 years, I have reached similar conclusions (Binggeli 1992, 1993a). However, my own research and an extensive literature search has brought to light many references and relevant information not available to Morton Boyd.

Origin

Although some people believe sycamore to be native (eg, Harris 1987), both ecological and historical evidence support the view that the species was introduced around the fifteenth century, although a Roman introduction cannot be excluded (wood said to be sycamore has been found at Langton Villa). The native range of sycamore does not extend as far as the Channel, the North Sea or Atlantic coast, but its introduction and spread has been recorded throughout the coastal areas from Brittany to Norway.

The first British records of sycamore originate from Scotland. In 1842 a tree near Dunblane was described as 440 years old. In The Protocol Book of James Young a reference is made to a plane tree growing in the Garden of Sir Andrew Wood of Largo in 1497. Although the tree could have been an Oriental Plane, there is strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that it was a sycamore. Trees called Siccamour or sicamour, which can be seen in illustrations to be sycamore, grew near Paris. Sir Andrew Wood, who was an important Leith sea captain, frequently traded along the same estuary near Paris and it would have been easy for him to bring a siccamour home to Leith. (S. Mowat 1993, pers. comm.).

PERCEPTION

In Britain people’s attitude towards sycamore has always been ambivalent. In the fifteenth century Evelyn (in Johns 1847) stated that sycamore should be banished from gardens and avenues because its honeydew-coated leaves which, after their fall, turned to mucilage and putrefied, whereas Johns (1847) considered sycamore to be “somewhat of a favourite”. In the late nineteenth century sycamore, because of its non-durable wood, was “often regarded as a weed among forest-trees and rigorously cut down” although its timber was highly valued (Simpson 1905). The prevalence of sycamore around farmsteads in the western parts of the British Isles indicate that during the nineteenth century farmers favoured the species, which is poorly recorded in the literature, but a certain amount of plant lore has been documented (Binggeli 1993b).

During the present century sycamore drew little attention until around the 1960s when the people’s attitude became at first negative, and more recently positive. Its low associated insect species-richness, invasive potential, prolific regeneration in urban areas and heavy honeydew production gave sycamore a poor reputation. Lately, sycamore has been extensively praised.

FORESTRY

In forestry sycamore will probably become an important timber tree in lowland Britain as agricultural land is converted to timber production. Trials are presently being carried out to assess sycamore in agroforestry systems. The Forestry Authority is currently selecting and propagating sycamore but their selection procedure is mainly based on general tree morphology, particularly of the trunk and large branches.

Because variation in sycamore is extensive the potential for selection and breeding is very high but not fully appreciated by researchers. The following traits are known to be very variable: budding time, age of first flowering, sex expression, seed production, susceptibility to aphids, and wood quality (eg, wavy-grain), all of which significantly affect tree morphology and/or growth rates. By carefully selecting these variable it should be possible to produce clones of fast growing and high quality timber sycamore.

INVASIVENESS

Sycamore invades different types of woodlands in the British Isles including birch, ash, alder and oak woods and many disturbed sites. However, the speed of invasion is usually slow because the conditions suitable for sycamore regeneration only occur at irregular intervals despite a regular seed production. Rootlet penetration following germination is prevented by compacted and dry soils. Young individuals are intolerant of grass competition and are susceptible to fungal attack and to grazing either by slugs and/or small rodents, whilst saplings are grazed by large herbivores.

The respective importance of these controlling factors is affected by light availability, soil nutrients and weather (chiefly rainfall). In fact, sycamore can be described as a gap species, which becomes established in treefall gaps, heavily disturbed areas, or under the canopy of low shade-casting species such as birch, sea buckthorn and alder.

CONSERVATION VALUE

Sycamore is known to have few associated insect species and an average number of epiphytic lichens. For short periods of time it is an important food source for some species of invertebrates (eg, bees) and vertebrates (eg, rodents). Observations by Frankis (1993 pers. comm.) suggest that insects in the flaking bark of old sycamore on the eastern coast of England are an important source of food for some migrating birds.

A high number of breeding birds are found in sycamore stands as long as the stand consist of a mosaic of isolated trees and shrubs but not of a continuous canopy. A complete sycamore canopy markedly reduces light levels and ground species-richness in the woodlands it invades. There is no substantiated evidence that sycamore improves the soil. In case of climate warming the sooty bark disease could become a health hazard to humans. People object to their honeydew-covered cars or park benches, as well as to weeding seedlings from their gardens.

In terms of the number of animal and plant species which are known to be associated with sycamore it can be concluded that sycamore is typical of most native trees. However, to evaluate the conservation value of sycamore or of any invasive species it is essential to answer the following questions. Are any of the animal and plant species associated with it not found on any other tree species? Would species associated with sycamore become extinct, or at least their populations decrease to dangerously low levels, if sycamore was eradicated from a particular site?

If the answers to one of these questions is a clear yes then sycamore must be conserved. Otherwise, from a conservation value point of view, it can be said that sycamore merely displaces native tree species or increases productivity. For instance, aphids falling into streams from overhanging trees are important food source for young salmon and trout (Gray 1993), but obviously not essential to their survival since these fish have thrived in British waters long before the introduction of sycamore and are presently found in rivers not lined with sycamore.

Since the amount of work, manpower and money necessary to remove sycamore and carry out detailed scientific surveys of sites or regions to determine the conservation value of sycamore is too great, an alternative management strategy must be sought. This strategy entails the careful management of the countryside including selective planting and eradication of seed producing trees from conservation and amenity areas.

THE FUTURE

Using the reproductive behaviour of sycamore it is possible to devise a management strategy which can accommodate the different, if not opposite, interests of conservation, horticulture and forestry. The reason why an exotic becomes the subject of much debate is because the species becomes invasive. Invasiveness results chiefly from a prolific and regular production of viable seeds. Although in plants most species are hermaphrodite, not all individuals will carry viable seeds because of the wide spectrum of sex expressions observed. As a result of careful observations it is possible to identify individuals which do not set viable seeds. This is the case in sycamore where about one percent of the trees are male flowering and another 20-50 per cent of the hermaphrodite individuals do not set viable seeds, although they do produce fruits (samaras). These individuals, which function as males, can be identified in the field by the distinctively empty nutlets (see Binggeli 1990 for methodology).

In areas where the regeneration of sycamore is unwelcome, as in nature reserves, parks and residential areas, its control can be achieved by removal of seed producers. Planting of sycamore need not be banned as the establishment of male flowering trees will not create any problem of natural regeneration. In nature reserves where sycamore is thought to be provide an important source of food or substrate for a particular group of animals or plants, male flowering individuals may be retained.

In forestry and agroforestry the planting of male individuals only has two advantages. Firstly it removes the problem of seed production and unwanted natural regeneration, and secondly, more important from a timber point of view, male flowering trees grow faster (as much as 10 per cent) than seed producing individuals.

The selection and propagation of male flowering individuals is essential to the successful implementation of such a strategy. Propagation must be vegetative as we do not (yet?) have a method to identify male flowering individuals at the seedling stage. The propagation of hardwood cuttings has been achieved with a reasonable degree of success (eg, Williams et al. 1991). Although vegetative propagation is more expensive than direct sowing, this should be clearly offset by the reduction in the costs of control and weeding, and by the benefits from higher growth rates and timber quality.

For sycamore, as opposed to most other invasive species, we do have a solution which can control its invasiveness as well as enhance its commercial and amenity values. The development and implementation of a management plan based on our detailed knowledge of the biology and ecology of sycamore should see the end of the controversy usually associated it. If a consensus arises in Britain among all interested parties, Reverend Johns’ (1847) statement that sycamore “will continue to sow its own seeds and nurse its own offspring, as long as England exists” may be proved wrong.

References

Binggeli, P. (1990) Detection of protandry and protogyny in sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) from infructescences. Watsonia 18, 17-20.

Binggeli, P. (1992) Patterns of invasion of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) in relation to species and ecosystem attributes. D.Phil. thesis, The University of Ulster.

Binggeli, P. (1993a) Conservation value of sycamore. Quarterly Journal of Forestry 87, 143-146.

Binggeli, P. (1993b) Sycamore lore. Plant-Lore Notes & News 29, 131-133.

Binggeli, P. (1994) The misuse of terminology and anthropomorphic concepts in the description of introduced species. The Bulletin of the British Ecological Society 25, 10-13.

Gray, C. (1993) The conservation value of sycamore. Quarterly Journal of Forestry 87, 235.

Harris, E. (1987) The case for sycamore. Quarterly Journal of Forestry 81, 32-36.

Johns, C.A. (1847) The forest trees of Britain. Vol 1. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London.

Simpson, J. (1905) The great trees of the northern forest. No 28. The sycamore maple (Acer pseudo-platanus). Flora Silva 3, 178-183.

Williams, A., Mayhead, G.J. and Good, J.E.G. (1991) Vegetative propagation of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.). Quarterly Journal of Forestry 85, 179-182.

Cemetery Wildlife April 2022

by Helen Bovillin Volunteers3 Comments on Cemetery Wildlife April 2022

CEMETERY WILDLIFE APRIL 2022

We have not had many of those famous April showers!  The total rainfall has been much lower than average for the month and the footpaths are therefore dry and easy to walk on.  There have been plenty of warm sunny days and the leaves on the trees have started to open.  That fresh, bright pale green so characteristic of Spring is everywhere now.

Trees and Plants

The English Oak trees planted by the volunteers last year are doing well, especially the larger of the two.

English Oak (2)

Alongside the green foliage of most of the trees is the copper colouring of the new leaves on the large Beech tree in the centre of the cemetery.  This tree is also known locally as the “Money Tree” and can be seen in my first photo.

Lower down, the Quince is flowering and nearby is some Yellow Archangel, which seems to do quite well in the shade.

Quince

Yellow Archangel

The Lesser Celandines growing on the grass verge have almost finished flowering but they are still going strong inside the cemetery.  The tiny blue flowers of the Forget-me-nots and Speedwell can now be seen if you look carefully amongst the other foliage.

Forget-me-not

Speedwell

Along the grass verge there is an abundance of Dandelions providing nectar for the Bees, Butterflies and other small insects.  The similar-looking Hawks-beard can also be seen.

Hawksbeard

I also found some Ribwort Plantain – the first time I’d noticed any along here.

Ribwort Plaintain

The Bluebells are now starting to flower but I will say more about them next month.  It was good to see plenty of Garlic Mustard in flower – another valuable food source for Butterflies, especially the Orange-tip.

Garlic mustard

Butterflies and insects

This month I saw quite a few Small and Large White butterflies, and also Comma and Brimstone.  I saw my first Orange-tips of the year this month.  I also caught a few brief glimpses of my first Green-veined White of the year.

Orange Tip

Male Orange Tip

The underside of the Orange-tip’s wings looks green but this is an optical illusion caused by the black and yellow patterning.

This month also saw the first Holly Blues and Speckled Woods of the year appearing in good numbers along the verge and also inside the cemetery.

Speckled Wood (2)

Holly Blues

Holly Blues usually rest with their wings not fully open.  These photos don’t really do them justice as they’re a much brighter blue than this but blink and you’ll miss them because they’re tiny and fast-flying.  Males and females have similar underwings.

Other insects in abundance were Bees, Ladybirds and various flies including the Bee-fly.

Bee-Fly

Birds

There are still some berries on the Ivy, providing food for Wood Pigeons, Blackcaps and Blackbirds.

Male Blackbird

The birds are still busy gathering nesting material.  I’ve seen quite a bit of activity around some of the bird boxes with Blue Tits in particular flying in and out of them. The larger birds will make nests of their own in the trees and bushes.

Female Blackbird

The Chiffchaffs have now arrived but are usually high up in the trees and not very easy to photograph.  Their call is loud and distinctive though!

Chiffchaff

Conclusion

April has been a month of abundance, with an explosion of colour and growth in most of the plants. The number and variety of Butterflies I’ve seen is very encouraging – I’ve seen a total of 10 different species so far this year.   Now is the perfect time for a stroll in the cemetery to enjoy the sights and sounds of the cemetery wildlife.  You might also enjoy the many monuments too – it seems like the wildlife does! Cemetery Wildlife March 2022

Stock Dove

 

 

Lichens

by Pete Lowdenin Volunteers, Wildlife4 Comments on Lichens

I watched a TV programme presented by Chris Packham. It was about the amount of wildlife that a normal suburban garden sustains throughout the year. Very interesting. One of the most interesting parts of the programme was when he looked at the top of plant pot. He was looking with an expert at the top of the soil in a plant pot. To me it looked like it was covered in moss. Probably to you too. The expert said there was a least 5  and probably more different kinds of mosses and lichens there. Which perhaps just goes to show two things. One is that much of what we blindly lump together is actually quite different. Secondly I’m crap at telling mosses and lichens apart.

Which is where this guide comes in handy. I recently acquired a rather glossy information eight page leaflet that identified these types of growths. I would have never guessed that there were so many different lichens. Nor that churchyards would have been the perfect place to spot them. The leaflet was so good that I thought I’d circulate it here. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

It is maybe something that local schools could use as a topic or it could become a the basis of a future walk, either organised or simply by yourself. Whatever enjoy the chance to educate yourself about this little known part of the natural world. Never again will you, unlike me, say, ‘Oh that’s just moss’. I hang my head in shame.

Cemetery Wildlife March 2022

by Helen Bovillin General, Volunteers, Wildlife2 Comments on Cemetery Wildlife March 2022

Where do I begin? March has been a great month for the many and varied members of the cemetery wildlife family!

This first month of the new season started off with a few rainy days but then the sun came out.  Most of the days have been very sunny with the occasionally frosty start, but daytime temperatures have been higher than average for this time of year.

This warm sunshine is just what the hibernating cemetery wildlife needed and I saw the first butterfly of the year – the above Small Tortoiseshell – on 10 March.

Insects

It’s nice to be writing about insects again!  A week after I saw the Small Tortoiseshell, I saw Commas and Brimstones and I got a brief glimpse of a Peacock. These were on the grass verge alongside the cemetery, but I also saw some of them inside the main part of the cemetery.

These four species of butterfly spend Winter as adults and can sometimes have slightly damaged wings by the time they emerge. This isn’t surprising considering the number of storms they’ve had to survive this year.  But I did also see some very smart, new-looking individuals too.

Commas

I saw two Brimstones and both were males.  Their wings are bright yellow but they always rest with their wings closed so you only see that bright yellow in flight.  The females emerge slightly later than the males and are a pale green, almost white.

During the last weekend I saw my first white butterflies of the season.  I saw a very active Small White on the grass verge.  It only stopped very briefly and when I studied my photo, I found it was a male.

Small White

Then in the edible garden area behind Thoresby Primary School I saw a Large White.  I realise this isn’t a part of the cemetery but think for the purposes of this report it can be included.  After all, if your main entry into the cemetery takes you past this area then your cemetery wildlife experience begins here.

Both these species spend their winters as a pupa – a good indication that the weather is now warm enough for the butterflies to complete their final transition into full adults.

Large White

So that’s six different species of butterfly in just one month and in a relatively small area.  Quite impressive!

There have been plenty of Bees around.  The queens have emerged from their Winter hibernation and are starting to look for places to start a new colony.

These are the main species I’ve seen so far – Buff-tailed, White-tailed and Red-tailed Bumblebees, and Common Carder Bees.  I also saw a Tawny Mining Bee towards the end of the month.

Bees

I also saw some Bee-flies.  Their fluffy little bodies make them look remarkably like small bees.  If you’re lucky to see one of these flies resting on a flower or a leaf look at the wings, held open at right angles to the body.  Bees rest with their wings over their bodies.

Bee-Fly

Another insect I was delighted to see was this Hawthorn Shield Bug, on a Common Dog Violet leaf.

Hawthorn Shield Bug

There are lots of Ladybirds of various kinds around too.  Note the 7-Spot one on the right of the Commas photo for example.  This is one of the twelve species native to the UK, and there are also Harlequin Ladybirds around too.

Plants and Flowers

After a slow start the Lesser Celandines are now flowering in abundance and the grass verge at the side of the cemetery is looking beautiful.  They are also flowering inside the cemetery.  These small yellow flowers can have between 8 and 13 petals, and they feature on several of the photos in this report.  The other yellow flowers in the photos are Dandelions.

The Blackthorn trees around the cemetery are now in full flower and some of the leaf buds have started to open.  Fresh green shoots are starting to appear on some of the other trees as well.

But when you look at the ground the signs of Spring are all around in the smaller flowers now starting to open.  Red Dead-nettle and Wood Anemones are currently in flower on the grass verge.

Red Dead-nettle

Wood Anemone

Inside the cemetery small patches of Common Dog Violets can now be seen, and I even found a few Periwinkles in flower.

Common Dog-Violet

Periwinkle

Birds

The birds are in full song at the moment, with the Robins being one of the loudest.

Robin

The gathering of nest material has begun in earnest and I’ve seen several Blue Tits exploring the nest boxes.

Last year the volunteers sunk a shallow dish into the ground in the Quaker Burial Ground as there is no natural supply of water in the cemetery.  Other than the pools that form in wet weather of course!  The Blackbirds seem especially fond of it.  It’s topped up regularly in dry weather but is kept shallow for the safety of all visitors.

Blackbird bathing

As far as the larger birds are concerned, there are Magpies, Carrion Crows, Stock Doves and Wood Pigeons in the cemetery.  They can be seen foraging among the many ground covering plants including Wild Garlic, the leaves of which are shown here.

Wood Pigeon

Some of the volunteers had a close encounter with a Sparrowhawk, flying close over their heads and into the far corner of the cemetery.  It was too fast for a photo though! I also caught a brief glimpse of a female Blackcap earlier in the month.  There are also Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Long-tailed Tits and Dunnocks around.

Conclusion

March has been a great month for the cemetery wildlife, with lots of sunshine and warmth.  But I couldn’t end this report without mentioning the Daffodils which are now open throughout the cemetery.  They are looking particularly spectacular along the grass verge, and should continue to look good well into April.

Cemetery Wildlife February 2022

Daffodils

 

 

 

Cemetery Wildlife February 2022

by Helen Bovillin General, Volunteers, Wildlife4 Comments on Cemetery Wildlife February 2022

Cemetery Wildlife February 2022

This is my 12th report for the newsletter.  My first one was in March 2021 and I have therefore spent this last 12-month period observing the flora and fauna of the cemetery in much greater detail than ever before.  The time has simply flown by!

February started with plenty of very cold but sunny days.  Then from mid-month onwards three named storms – Dudley, Eunice and Franklin – hit the UK.  Hull was not as severely affected as other parts of the country and the cemetery suffered no major damage.  A large branch came off a tree near the western boundary but no headstones were damaged.

Fallen branch

Unfortunately, the heavy rainfall has left some of the footpaths in a very muddy condition.  There was even a brief snowfall but it only gave a thin covering that soon melted away.  The rain, sleet and snow didn’t seem to adversely affect the cemetery wildlife though, and the birds were around as usual.

Chaffinch in snow

Birds

The birds have started to sing and were in fine voice all around the cemetery. The singing serves to mark out their territories and attract mates.  You can often hear them before you see them!  This Song Thrush was particularly loud and apart from its song, it can also be distinguished from the larger Mistle Thrush by the markings on its chest.  The Song Thrush has regular shaped markings akin to an arrowhead or a heart, whereas the markings on the Mistle Thrush are more irregular.

Song Thrush

Robins and Wrens also have fine singing voices and I saw and heard several of them in the cemetery this month.  The Dunnock also has a fine and melodious song.

Dunnock

The nesting process seems to have started already, as I saw a pair of Long-tailed Tits flying in and out of a dense patch of Brambles – and ideal nesting site for this species. I also observed this Great Tit gathering moss – an ideal nesting material which is in abundance throughout the cemetery.

Great Tit

Also seen this month – Coal Tits, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Carrion Crows, Magpies, Blackbirds and Goldfinches.  And you can also hear, and then see, Greylag and Canada Geese flying overhead, most likely on their way to Pearson Park.

In October last year the volunteers carried out a check of the nest boxes and found an occupancy rate of 63.41%.  Since then, a few more have been located and checked.  Only one further box was found to have been used, giving an occupancy rate of 61.36%.  One box was found to be damaged and was replaced earlier this month.

Plants

The bulbs planted by the volunteers in the Quaker Burial Ground in Autumn have now started to flower, creating some nice splashes of colour in there.  The Crocus plants even attracted a visiting Hoverfly!

Crocus and hoverfly

The miniature Tete-a-Tete Daffodils are starting to create a nice border around the feature stones.

Daffodils

The main focus of my reports will always be the cemetery wildlife.  But I’ll also include the plants that the volunteers have set because these have such a beneficial effect on both residents and visitors alike.

It is now peak Snowdrop time and there are lots of them all over the cemetery – some single varieties, some double.  There are around 20 different species native to Europe and the Middle East, although they might not actually be native to the UK.  But they have been recorded as growing wild here since the late 18th century.

Snowdrops

Tiny green shoots are now visible on some of the trees and shrubs.  Flowers have just started to open on the Forsythia near the cemetery gates but I’ll talk about that next month. The Blackthorn is now in flower – the flowers appear on the plant before the leaves do.

Blackthorn

The Lesser Celandines I mentioned last month have not increased in significant numbers like I expected.  Looking back on this time last year the grass verge along Spring Bank West was covered in them.  There were even some Butterflies around during the last few days of that February.  The wet weather and lack of sunshine in the middle of the month has obviously affected their flowering.

Mushrooms

Even in the middle of Winter there are still some mushrooms to be found, including this Jelly Ear on a fallen branch.  I was lucky to find them when I did. A few days later they had started to shrivel and the plants around it had started to grow over what remained of them.

Jelly Ear

Conclusion

Weather-wise February has been a month of contrasts. Some of the plants are a little behind in their development compared to last year.  But the month ended with some fine sunny days.  I now have a whole year’s-worth of data, mainly in photographic form, for comparison.  It will be interesting to see how March this year compares to March last year. Wonderful Wildlife

 

Cemetery Wildlife January 2022

by Helen Bovillin Volunteers3 Comments on Cemetery Wildlife January 2022

Cemetery Wildlife January 2022 Cemetery Wildlife December

The year started with a very mild and sunny New Year’s Day – quite possibly the warmest on record for Hull.  There was only a small amount of rain and some fog at the start of the month.  It turned colder in the middle of the month and there was some frost, but it was generally very sunny and dry during the middle two weeks.  The month ended on a duller but still dry note, helping the footpaths to become easier to walk on.

I noticed how the sunlight was able to penetrate right into the heart of the cemetery.  It was actually getting more sunlight than the grass verge due to the position of the sun in the sky, having to rise above the tops of the houses on Spring Bank West.

Plants

I found a Lesser Celandine in flower on New Year’s Day, plus a few Brambles with flowers on them!  Later in the month a few more Lesser Celandines were in flower, and I also found a Dandelion and some Groundsel on the grass verge.

Lesser Celadine

There are lots of Snowdrops now starting to appear, helped no doubt by the fine sunshine, and they seem to be about a week earlier than last year.  Very tiny buds are starting to appear on some of the trees, and there are a few catkins on one of the Hazels.

Hazel Catkins

Insects

I noticed a few small insects in the air, and I also saw a Marmalade Hoverfly. Not surprisingly I didn’t see any butterflies, but I did see a report (from a reliable source) of a Small Tortoiseshell being seen in another part of Hull.

Dandelion with Marmalade Hoverfly  

Birds

It’s been a quiet month for bird sightings in that there have not been any unusual or rare visitors to report.  There are still plenty of the regular resident species around, such as Blue Tits, Great Tits and the much less abundant Coal Tit.

Coal Tit

I managed to catch a glimpse of a Treecreeper.  It started low down on the trunk of the tree and then quickly worked its way upwards, circling around the tree as it climbed.  They feed on insects found under the bark.

Tree Creeper

A walk through the cemetery wouldn’t be complete without seeing one of our most easily recognised birds, the Blackbird.  There are several of them around, raking through the leaves looking for food.  The females are dark brown with a darker bill.

Blackbird

Much of the cemetery wildlife can be seen on the ground, including Wood Pigeons. There are lots of them searching for food amongst the leaves and shrubs.  They can also be seen in the trees, eating Ivy berries.

The resident Robins are now in full song, marking out their territories and trying to attract a mate.  They’re very early risers, often starting to sing a couple of hours before sunrise.

Robin

Also seen this month – Chaffinches, Dunnocks, Stock Doves and Wrens.

Fungi

There are still fungi to be found in the Cemetery even in January.  The small and colourful Velvet Shank can even withstand freezing temperatures.

Velvet Shank

I also found some similar sized mushrooms growing on a fallen log and I believe these are known as Turkey Tail.  Mushrooms can often be quite difficult to identify as their appearance can vary enormously over their sometimes quite short life spans.

Turkey Tail fungus

When we look at mushrooms we only see the fruiting body of the organism.  The rest is hidden below the surface of whatever it’s growing on.  Some are so small it’s easy to miss them.  The Coral Spot is tiny but its bright colour makes it easy to see.

Coral Spot fungus

From the tiny to the large, I found a mushroom the size of the palm of my hand mid-January.  This is a type of Blewit.

Large Blewitt

I can’t say for definite if it was a Field Blewit or a Wood Blewit due to its poor condition but it was still a nice find.

Conclusion

January was a dry month with extremes of temperature ranging from extremely mild to the frosts you’d expect at this time of year.  There was plenty of cemetery wildlife around as usual of course.  But I couldn’t help but look back to this time last year though, when many of the volunteers and visitors to the cemetery enjoyed some excellent views of a Buzzard.  I wonder what our surprise wildlife of 2022 will be? Will it be a bird or an animal or even an insect? We have another 11 months to find out!

 

 

 

Cemetery Wildlife December

by Helen Bovillin General, Volunteers, Wildlife4 Comments on Cemetery Wildlife December

Cemetery Wildlife December

A few days after going to press last month, storm Arwen hit us.  I’m happy to report that none of the cemetery’s trees suffered any major damage during that storm.  A few branches broke loose but none of them were large enough to cause any damage.  But at the beginning of December storm Barra arrived and this caused some more significant damage to one of the trees near the main gates.  A large branch the size of a small tree broke off a Sycamore, blocking one of the footpaths.  Luckily it didn’t damage any of the headstones although it did fall quite close to them.  The volunteers quickly got it cleared it away.

December got off to a very cold, wet and windy start and there was even a slight dusting of snow in the first week.  It remained wet for most of the month and the footpaths are still very soft and muddy.  The fallen branches were put to good use by the volunteers, turning them into chippings which were used to repair the worst affected parts of the footpaths. Before the chippings were laid, some of the deepest mud was removed and put to one side, revealing many worms in the process.  The Robins were quick to notice this – it is always nice to see the cemetery wildlife benefiting from human activity!

Trees and Plants

Most of the trees are now bare, but a few pockets of leaves are still clinging on to some of them – for example, on this Norway Maple.

Norway Maple

I was surprised to see some flowers on one of the Pyracantha bushes growing along the grass verge on Spring Bank West, especially considering that it still had a few berries on it last month.  It is in a sunny location though.

Pyracantha in flower

There are still some berries on the Rowan – a good source of food for the birds.  Over the course of the next few years, it is hoped we can plant some new native trees and shrubs of the kind that have plenty of berries on them.  This will provide food for the current cemetery wildlife and hopefully attract new species, increasing the site’s biodiversity.

Rowan

Very few plants are in flower at the moment.  I noticed a Dandelion and some Smooth Sow-thistle along the grass verge, and also some Hogweed, although it was a much smaller plant than usual, being less than a foot tall.

Hogweed (2)

Birds

The highlight of this month was seeing three Bullfinches in a wild area towards the eastern side of the cemetery – please see lead photo at the start of this report.  This is the first time I’ve seen Bullfinches in the cemetery this year – they seem to be only occasional visitors at the moment.  But they do appear to like feeding on the seeds found in old Brambles and there are plenty of these in the cemetery.  Several areas, where there are no headstones, are deliberately left untouched for the benefit of the cemetery wildlife.

There are lots of Wood Pigeons around, and I’ve also seen a pair of Stock Doves in amongst them.  The Wood Pigeons are the larger of the two species.  I mentioned them in my first report back in March – these more detailed photos illustrate the different plumage and eye colours much better.

Wood Pigeon

The volunteers put up some more bird boxes a few weeks ago.  I noticed a Blue Tit checking one out only last week.  It seems quite early to be starting the nesting process, but it might just have been looking for somewhere to shelter from the cold.

Blue Tit (2)

Fungi

Last month I mentioned the intriguingly named King Alfred’s Cakes that one of the volunteers had found, and I managed to find quite a few of them too.  I wouldn’t normally do this, but I removed one from the tree and sliced through it to see what it looked like inside.  One of my reference books describes it as “Inedible. A folk remedy to relieve night cramp and it is called Cramp Balls for this reason”.

King Alred's Cakes

I also found a few very small mushrooms on the ground, some of which were growing out of the wood chippings laid earlier on in the year. Fallen branches can be good places for mushrooms to grow, and some of the larger branches have been deliberately left where they fell to encourage this.  Fungi, plus the tiny insects that can sometimes be seen on them, are another good food source for the cemetery wildlife.

Conclusion

It has been a very cold, wet and dull month but there is still plenty of wildlife around. As I write this it is nearly Christmas; by the time you read this Christmas will be over.  I hope yours was a happy Christmas and that the coming year will be a good one for you!

Robin fake snow

 

Cemetery Wildlife November

by Helen Bovillin General, Volunteers, Wildlife

Cemetery Wildlife November

November was a mild but damp month, and rather dull too with less sunshine than the previous month.  But when the sun came out it highlighted the stunning beauty of the Autumn colours in a way that took one’s breath away.  Many people I spoke to during my frequent walks around the cemetery also expressed their appreciation of this colourful sight.

Plants

This seems the ideal subject to talk about first, with the emphasis on trees as they are looking so good at the moment.

The main tree in the first photo is a Hornbeam – it is one of the species where the leaves turn yellow in Autumn.  It seems to be a good year for leaf colour because I don’t recall seeing this tree looking so vibrant last year.  This is located on the southern footpath not far from the main gates.

Hornbeam leaf

Another species where the leaves turn yellow in Autumn is the Norway Maple.  These trees are also looking very vibrant and colourful, providing a carpet of yellow and gold along the southern footpath.

The Southern Footpath

Norway Maple

There are a number of Turkey Oaks in the cemetery and their leaves have now turned brown and lie on the ground in abundance. Earlier in the year the volunteers planted two English Oak trees but these are only saplings with many years’ growth ahead of them.

English Oak

This shows the difference between the two species of Oak.  Please note the English Oak leaf is only smaller because it came from a much smaller tree.

The impressive Beech tree in the centre of the cemetery (also known as the “money tree”) has now dropped all its leaves, creating a carpet of copper around it. But many of the deciduous trees still have plenty of green leaves on them.

There are still plenty of berries on the Pyracantha and Berberis bushes.  I make no distinction between native and introduced species because to the cemetery wildlife they are simply just good sources of food.

Berberis

Mushrooms

From the largest structures in the cemetery, I now move on to some of the smallest. And if you spot them when they’ve only just started to grow, they really are small!  They can be particularly hard to find amongst all the fallen leaves which often tower above them.

Mushrooms and other Fungi are often difficult to identify because their appearances can change very quickly.

Velvet Shank

See what I mean?   They are another good food source for the cemetery wildlife hence the presence of what looks like bite marks on the second photo.  I have seen several other small mushrooms but I’ve been unable to identify them with any certainty.  But I can report that one of the volunteers found some Haresfoot Inkcaps recently, and also some King Alfred’s Cakes.  Yes, that really is the name of a fungus!

Another fungus that can be seen at the moment, usually on fallen trees and logs, is the Silverleaf Fungus. It starts off flat and then develops into rows of frills and other protuberances.

Silverleaf Fungus

Birds

There are no unusual visitors to report this month.  There are plenty of the usual resident species around such as Wood Pigeons, Robins, Wrens, Blackbirds, Chaffinches and Blue Tits. Stock Doves, Goldfinches, Coal Tits, Long-Tailed Tits and Dunnocks are also around.

There are also a number of Great Tits living in the cemetery.  These are bigger than Blue Tits and slightly bigger than Goldfinches.

Great Tit

Adult birds in full breeding plumage usually have chests that are a much brighter yellow than this one.  They can look stunning when the sun shines on them.

Insects

It seems strange not to be talking about butterflies but it is November after all.  However, one of the volunteers DID find a Small Tortoiseshell in her house a couple of weeks ago! But it was nowhere near the cemetery.

There are still lots of Ladybirds around and wasps and hoverflies too. There are also plenty of tiny insects around for the birds to find up high in the trees.

Conclusion

November has been a good month for the cemetery, with the trees being the real stars this time.  Birds are around in good numbers and it is always a delight to see new types of fungi. It’s the perfect time for a leisurely stroll to marvel at all the lovely cemetery wildlife! Cemetery Wildlife October

 

Ms Crackles

by Pete Lowdenin History, Volunteers, Wildlife

Ms Eva Crackles was born in Hull in 1918 and worked as a teacher for many years at Malet Lambert School. She received an honorary degree from the University of Hull in the 1990s. This was  followed swiftly by an MBE for recognition of her work in conservation. She died in 2007. Her works include ‘The Flowering Plants of Spurn’ and her major work, ‘Flora of the East Riding’.

This much can be gained by looking at her Wikipedia site.

However a little known piece of her work took place 45  years ago this month. She drafted a three page letter to the Leiusre Services Committee of Hull City council. In it she detailed her concerns for the ‘development of the Hull General Cemetery. She also gave a detailed analysis of the environment and ecology of the Cemetery at that time.

From a noted biologist this information should have been grasped thankfully by the Council. This report was perhaps something that they would and should have had to pay for. She gave them it as a gift.

Their reaction? Thanks but no thanks.

Here it is for your pleasure. I hope you enjoy it.

Forty five years later

Sadly, the biodiversity that Ms Crackles spoke of has decreased. Due almost entirely to the proliferation of the Sycamore, which is a poor tree with regard to habitat or food source for insects. Without the proliferation of aphids in summer it would be poor for birds too.

The Friends of Hull General Cemetery have raised this issue with the Council. The Council are in sympathy with the idea that many of the sycamores should be replaced with less invasive species such as Birch and Rowan but we were told that funding for such a scheme was problematic.

As such we just have to accept that what was once described by Ms Crackles as a ‘mixed deciduous woodland’ is, over time, becoming nothing more than a Sycamore plantation.

 

18 12 76 a

18 12 76 b

18 12 76 c