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Cemetery Wildlife – September 2024

September 29, 2024 by Helen Bovillin Volunteers

Autumn Fruits Special

This month marked the end of summer and the start of autumn. The weather was very mild, dry and sunny for the first three weeks of the month. Many of the shrubs and trees are now bearing fruit and providing plenty of food for the cemetery wildlife. To mark such abundance, this month’s report is an autumn fruits special.

Plants, Trees and Shrubs

Fruit

The Dog Rose near the Cholera Monument is now bearing fruit, known as hips (pictured above).

I found a small group of European Barberry plants not far from the main gates. Their small red berries add a nice splash of colour to the greenery. I found lots of orange and red berries on the Firethorn bushes growing along the south path and also at the back of the Spring Bank West verge. Firethorn is also known as Pyracantha.

The Japanese Skimmia now has a few red berries on it. I noticed that some had already been eaten by the cemetery wildlife. The Yew tree in the Quaker Burial Ground has berries on it, many of which had fallen to the ground. I couldn’t see any on the tree because of the darkness of the leaves and the lack of light.

The majority of the fruits in the cemetery fall into two colour sets – red/orange, and black/purple. Here is a selection of fruits from the latter category:-

Brambles and Elder grow throughout the cemetery and are a particularly good source of food for the cemetery wildlife. I noticed Blackbirds in particular eating the elderberries.

There is a patch of Cuckoopint or Lords-and-Ladies growing in a central part of the cemetery. I’ve never seen the plants reach their fruiting stage in an upright position though. They usually seem to wither and end up flat on the ground. I don’t know if this is because they get trampled by visitors to the cemetery or if they’re just not strong enough to remain upright.

Orange and green berries on cuckoopint or Lords-and-Ladies — **Cuckoopint or Lords-and-Ladies**

I found lots of acorns on the ground from one of the Turkey Oaks along the south path. They seem to have fallen prematurely in the recent high winds, as none of them looked ripe.

An unripe Turkey Oak Acorn on a a headstone in the cemetery — **Turkey Oak**

Flowers

A small patch of Feverfew is still in flower on the Spring Bank West Verge.

But in general, I didn’t find many plants in flower this month. I found a few flowers on some of the brambles, and the Ivy is now in flower. It’s easy to walk past without seeing their flowers because they look so different to other flowers. At the moment they’re providing food for insects; later their berries will feed a lot of the cemetery’s birds.

An Ivy flower with a Marmalade hoverfly feeding on it — **Ivy flower with Marmalade Hoverfly**

The Red Campion and Creeping Thistle is still flowering. The only new flower I found this month was Ivy-leaved Cyclamen.

Fungi

Continuing with the fruity theme, whenever you see any type of fungi what you’re looking at is the organism’s fruiting body. The main part of a fungus is made up of lots of fine threads, growing under the surface and therefore hidden from view. Please see the link at the end of this report for more information.

The largest fungus I found was one I wasn’t able to identify for certain. It could be either a Birch Polypore or a Dryad’s saddle.

It looks like the cemetery wildlife found it before I did!

Quite a lot of the fallen logs have smaller fungi and lichens growing on them which can also be difficult to identify. But one I was able to identify was Witches’ Butter.

Witches' butter fungus growing on a fallen log in the cemetery — **Witches’ butter**

Birds

I noticed quite a few fledglings in the cemetery this month – Robins, Goldfinches, Blue and Great Tits, and Chaffinches. Some of these were towards the end of the month. It looks like the generally warmer weather has allowed some of the cemetery’s birds to raise a second brood later in the season.

Two young Chaffinches — **Young Chaffinches. (Young Goldfinches look very similar, but have distinctive yellow wing feathers.)**

I was hoping I might see some baby Bullfinches, but I haven’t seen any Bullfinches this month. The adult birds that I used to see regularly just don’t seem to be around anymore.

Insects

There were still some bees, hoverflies, ladybirds and other small insects around. I saw dragonflies on a couple of occasions.

Common Darter dragonfly on dried Dock seeds — **Common Darter on the seed head of a Dock plant (above)**

An orange and black spotted Harlequin Ladybird — **Harlequin Ladybird**

I started to notice wasps in and around the cemetery this month. It occurred to me that I never stop to look at this common species so this time I did!

I don’t often see moths in the cemetery, but this month I saw a tiny Plume moth of some sort. It didn’t stay still for very long though, and landed amongst some nettles.

Butterflies

I saw at least five different species of butterfly this month, but in singles rather than in any sort of numbers. There are 3 species of white butterfly I’d expect to see in the cemetery at this time of the year – Small White, Large White and Green-veined White. I caught occasional glances of a white butterfly or two but I wasn’t able to confirm the species. I did see Comma, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral and Holly Blue though.

Conclusion

After a mild and dry start, September ended with some colder weather, and a couple of wet and very windy days. Fortunately, the rain wasn’t heavy and prolonged enough to turn the footpaths muddy. The avian branch of the cemetery wildlife seemed to cope with the wind, and I watched as the smaller birds seemed to time their short flights to fit in with the lulls between gusts. However, the wind brought down a medium sized tree at the western end of the cemetery, blocking the northern footpath leading into Western Cemetery.

And finally ……

A squirrel with a horse chestnut fruit in its mouth — **A perfect (albeit blurry) example of how there is food for everyone in Hull General Cemetery. See you next month!**

Link to Fungi information –

How are fruit bodies made :: British Mycological Society (britmycolsoc.org.uk)

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 – June 2024

June 30, 2024 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife3 Comments

The month started off cold and wet, and up to the middle of the month the footpaths were still muddy. But warmer, sunnier weather arrived later in the month and continued to the end of it. I had plenty of opportunities to watch the cemetery wildlife during this busy time of the year. The dry footpaths made it particularly pleasurable for me, as did the smell of the flowers on the privet bushes dotted around the cemetery.

Plants

New Species

Most of the cow parsley and a lot of the hogweed has now died back. Although this can look a little unsightly in places, it has allowed some different plants to come through and I found four new species that I hadn’t noticed in the cemetery before.

The first of these was Meadowsweet (see photo above). This was growing on the grass verge alongside the cemetery. It might be one of the plants the volunteers set along there in November 2022 but which has only just managed to flower for the first time this year.

I also found some Corky-fruited Water-Dropwort – at least, I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. It wasn’t planted by the volunteers, it being on a different part of the verge to the area that was planted.

White flowers of the corky-fruited water dropwort growing on the grass verge alongside the cemetery — **Corky-fruited water-Dropwort**

So it’s worth bearing in mind at this time of the year that not every plant with a round cluster of densely packed white flowers is Cow Parsley or Hogweed!

One of the things we did plant was Common Birds-foot Trefoil, and I was delighted to find some of it in flower.

The yellow flowers of Birds-foot Trefoil — **Common Birds-foot Trefoil**

I also found a very similar-looking plant, albeit considerably taller, growing nearby. It looked very much like Meadow Vetchling.

The yellow flowers of Meadow Vetchling — **Meadow Vetchling**

Established Species

Staying with yellow flowers, I also saw a few clusters of Common Ragwort on the grass verge. This is a perennial plant, flowering every other year. It’s great for the insect branch of the cemetery wildlife, and can flower until as late as November.

The yellow flowers of Ragwort — **Ragwort**

I found two different types of Mallow growing on the verge – Musk Mallow, one of the plants set by the volunteers in 2022, and Common Mallow, which is just growing wild.

Also on the verge I found a nice patch of Feverfew.

The white daisy-like flowers of Feverfew — **Feverfew**

Inside the cemetery I found some Hedge Woundwort and some Wall Lettuce, although it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the lettuce you’d have with a salad!

The purple flowers of Hedge Woundwort growing in the cemetery — **Hedge Woundwort (above)**

The tiny yellow flowers of Wall Lettuce, growing near some headstones in the cemetery — **Wall Lettuce**

There’s still plenty of Herb Robert growing in various places in the cemetery – this pretty little pink wildflower seems to be having a very good year. I also saw plenty of Campion – both red and white varieties – growing in the cemetery and on the grass verge. Other wildflowers I’ve seen this month are dandelions, knapweed, thistles, buttercups and Hedge Mustard.

Insects

Despite the abundance of flowers and nectar, it’s been a very poor month for butterflies. I saw just one Red Admiral and a couple of Speckled Wood, all in the Quaker Burial Ground. But we are in the “June gap” – this is the quiet period when the eggs laid by the early butterflies are hatching and developing into the next generation of butterflies ready for flight from July onwards.

I did see some bees, ladybirds, a Green Shield Bug and a few hoverflies including this Hornet Mimic hoverfly.

Hornet mimic hoverfly on a flowering tree — **Hornet Mimic hoverfly**

But the insect I saw the most of this month was the Thick-legged Flower Beetle (sometimes called the Swollen-thighed Flower Beetle). It was only last year that I saw my first one in the cemetery, but this year there’s been a huge increase in their numbers.

I checked on the iNaturalist website and found a distribution map that indicates this is a species found mainly in the south of the country, with very few being recorded north of York. It makes me wonder if this species is spreading northwards now as a result of the warmer temperatures and milder winters.

Birds

I saw my first-ever young Great Spotted Woodpeckers this month, high up in a tree in the centre of the cemetery. They were making lots noise, and I saw the adults making several visits to feed them. It looked like they were nearly ready to fledge because the female (right) no longer has any red feathers on the top of her head. Both sexes of the chicks have these red head feathers. Only the males retain them into adulthood.

Woodpecker chicks looking out of a nest hole in a tree in the cemetery — **Great Spotted Woodpecker chicks – male (left) and female (right)**

I also saw a young Robin. The red breast feathers are yet to grow – this is so that he or she can stay in the area until fully fledged. Once the red feathers appear, the other adults will chase the youngster away.

Baby Robin on a headstone in the cemetery — **Robin**

I still regularly see a couple of Bullfinches in the cemetery.

A female bullfinch in the cemetery — **Bullfinch**

This is the female. I didn’t see her as often as usual this month – this could have been because she was incubating eggs in the nest. June is in the middle of the Bullfinch breeding season, and a few years ago I saw a young fledgling in the cemetery. That was in August.

Blue Tits are normally the most abundant species but I didn’t see as many of them as usual this month.

Blue Tit on a branch in the cemetery — **Blue Tit**

I did see plenty of Chaffinches and Great Tits, including some younger ones. In addition I also saw a couple of Coal Tits, a Treecreeper, Blackbirds, Goldfinches and wrens. The usual larger birds – Wood Pigeons, Crows, Magpies and Stock Doves – were around in good numbers. I regularly heard Chiffchaffs in the cemetery, but couldn’t see them. They’re usually high up in the trees, and difficult to see when the trees are in full leaf. A regular visitor to the cemetery also saw one of the adult Tawny Owls this month.

Fungi

Not much to report, other than this interesting (and tiny) specimen I found on a fallen log. I think it belongs to the Lycogala genus. My thumb is shown purely for the purposes of scale.

Thumb pointing at a tiny fungus on a fallen log — **Lycogala fungus (possibly)**

Conclusion

June has been a month of transition, with the spring flowers dying back to make way for the summer ones. The weather could have been better too, being colder than normal for much of the month.

I mentioned the results of the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge 2024 in my April report but these figures were just interim ones. Although the recording period was from 26 to 29 April, the participants had until 6 May to upload their observations and have them verified. I spent that weekend observing and recording a lot of the cemetery wildlife, so here’s a link to the results, from The Deep’s website.

Results of the Hull City Nature Challenge 2024 | The Deep

Squirrel having a snack on a headstone in the cemetery — **Your Squirrel of the month – see you next time!**

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife – July 2023

July 30, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife

While parts of mainland Europe sweltered under record breaking heat, it has been a rather cool month here, with a higher than usual rainfall too. This caused some of the footpaths to become muddy again. There have been some warm sunny days though, and the cemetery wildlife is still thriving. This is particularly noticeable with the birds, as I’ve seen lots of fledglings around.

Birds

I started this report with a young Robin. It is probably less than a month old as it was flying, but doesn’t yet have its red breast. This will develop in late summer when the bird is between two and three months old. Once the young bird has its red breast it will be chased out of the area by the very territorial males. The initial lack of a red breast prevents this from happening and gives it time to learn to fly and feed itself.

I’ve seen lots of young Great and Blue Tits around the cemetery too.

Two photos showing an adult Blue Tit and a juvenile Blue Tit — **Blue Tits – adult (left); juvenile (right)**

I was delighted to see a Coal Tit this month. It was high up in a tree so I couldn’t get a particularly good photo of it, but I could clearly see the distinctive white patch towards the back of its head. That and the beige coloured chest meant it couldn’t be any other bird.

A Coal Tit high up in a tree in the cemetery — **Coal Tit**

I regularly heard and saw Goldfinches this month. There were lots of Chaffinches around, including young ones, and I still got occasional glimpses of the two Bullfinches I mentioned last month. I’m sure it’s the same pair as they’re not a common or numerous species here.

Two photos - one showing a male Chaffinch and the other showing a male Bullfinch — **Chaffinch (left) and Bullfinch (right) illustrating their different colouring and beak size. Both are male.**

I also saw young Blackbirds foraging on the ground, but begging for food whenever a parent was nearby. I also saw several Carrion Crows, Magpies, Wood Pigeons, Wrens and this Song Thrush.

A Song Thrush foraging on the ground — **Song Thrush**

Insects

There were lots of Ladybirds around this month, and lots of Hoverflies too. When I use my phone to take close-up photos of flowers with Hoverflies on them, it’s always amusing to see another one trying to land on the flower on my phone screen!

A Marmalade Hoverfly on a yellow flower — **Marmalade Hoverfly**

I kept seeing Thick-legged Flower Beetles too, a species I hadn’t seen in previous years in the cemetery.

The yellow flower of the Tansy plant, with a Thick-legged Flower Beetle resting on it — **Thick-legged Flower Beetle on Tansy. It lacks the thick thighs, meaning this one is a female.**

I see lots of flies too, but tend not to mention them as they’re so commonplace and often quite small and difficult to photograph. But this Flesh Fly stood out, being larger than most.

A Flesh Fly resting on a leaf. — **Flesh Fly**

Butterflies

Last month I told you the story of a Large White Butterfly from egg to larva/caterpillar. But I also noticed something unusual about a week after I saw the caterpillar on the plant stem. I saw another Large White caterpillar in that same area (or maybe it was the same one?) on a cluster of what looked like oval shaped eggs. I knew these weren’t the butterfly’s eggs, so I did a bit of research and discovered a rather gruesome story.

It seems the “eggs” you can see in the photos below are actually the pupae of a Braconid, a type of tiny parasitic wasp. It lays its eggs inside other insects, including caterpillars. The eggs hatch and the larvae eat the host insect without its knowledge, whilst leaving the vital organs intact so the host doesn’t die. They then hatch out through a hole in the skin of the still-living caterpillar, and pupate near to it.

The caterpillar is then somehow persuaded to spin a web of silk around all the Braconid pupae to protect them. (This is the material it would normally use to make a cocoon inside which it would turn into a butterfly). And still, barely alive, the caterpillar keeps watch over them. I assume this is what we can see in the photo on the left, although the caterpillar still looks quite rounded rather than an eaten-out husk. A week later there was no caterpillar but the web with the pupae in them was still there.

I wasn’t able to observe what happened next due to the rather heavy rain from the middle to the end of the month and I lost track of the plant in the photos. Of course, these photos might not illustrate any or even part of the process I’ve described, but it did seem to make sense.

I didn’t see any more caterpillars, nor did I see a lot of butterflies until towards the end of the month, when there were a number of white ones around – Small White, Large White and Green-Veined White.

A Green-veined White Butterfly on a Wild Carrot flowerhead — **Green-veined White Butterfly on Wild Carrot. Note the tiny beetles on the left, possibly a type of Jewel Beetle.**

I also saw a few Holly Blues, several Speckled Wood, a Comma and a Red Admiral.

A Red Admiral Butterfly high up on some white Bramble flowers. Brambles are great food for the cemetery wildlife. — **Red Admiral on Bramble flowers**

Plants and Flowers

The Brambles in the cemetery and along the grass verge are currently at all stages of development. Some have buds on them, some are in flower, as seen in the photo above, and some have fully ripe fruits on them. All good news for the cemetery wildlife!

Some more of the wildflower plants set by the volunteers last year are now flowering. This includes the Tansy on a previous photo, and the yellow flower the Hoverfly is resting on. These yellow flowers that look similar to Dandelions can be quite difficult to identify and they include Hawkbit, Hawk’s-Beard, Goatsbeard and Cat’s Ear.

Mallow is still in flower along the grass verge – Common and Musk.

Common Mallow growing in the cemetery — **Common Mallow (above)**

The pink flowers of the Musk mallow, with two Marmalade Hoverflies — **Musk Mallow with visiting Marmalade Hoverflies**

The Wild Basil is also starting to flower.

The pink flowers of the Wild Basil — **Wild Basil**

There are Privet bushes in various places in the cemetery, and these were in flower in July. The white flowers are rather small, but they do have a very nice fragrance.

The white flowers of the Privet growing in the cemetery — **Privet**

There is also some Hedge Woundwort growing in the cemetery. It appears in the same place each year but doesn’t seem to have spread anywhere else.

The tall pink flower stems of Hedge Woundwort — **Hedge Woundwort**

I also found some Wall Lettuce – it seems to tolerate shade and adds a bit of colour to a dark area.

The small yellow flowers of the Wall Lettuce, growing near a headstone in the cemetery — **Wall Lettuce**

Fungi

Not much to report, except for this small cluster of Fairy Inkcaps underneath an old bracket fungus. There are a few tough old bracket fungi still around, but I haven’t seen any other new mushrooms.

A large bracket fungus attached to a tree, with some smaller Fairy Inkcap mushrooms growing underneath it - food for the cemetery wildlife — **Bracket Fungus and Fairy Inkcaps**

Conclusion

A cooler and wetter month than June. The vast majority of the Hogweed and Cow Parlsey has finished for the season, so anything you see from now on that looks similar is probably Wild Carrot. The die-back has left the cemetery looking a little battered, and the heavy showers have caused the taller plants such as the Thistles to bend over. But fresh plants are starting to grow and flower, and there is abundant cemetery wildlife wherever you look.

A squirrel in a tree looking direct to the camera — **See you next month!**

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife – May 2023

May 31, 2023May 31, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife1 Comment

May got off to a wet start, but there was plenty of warm sunshine throughout the month. I was away on holiday for 11 days in the middle of the month and when I got back home, I couldn’t believe the amount of growth there had been while I was away! The leaves on the trees are almost fully open, flowers are blooming everywhere and the cemetery wildlife is making the most of this late Spring abundance. The month ended on a cool but dry note.

Plants and flowers

The Bluebells were nearly at their peak when the above photo was taken. The vast majority of them are not the native British Bluebells but a Spanish variety. Most are blue of course, but I did see a few pink ones and quite a few white ones too. The stems have a more upright appearance whereas the native British ones have a more downward curving stem. Their flowering reached its peak in the middle of the month.

White Bluebells, sometimes known as Snowbells — **Bluebells**

Another seasonally abundant plant in the cemetery is the Wild Garlic which is also known as Ramsons. It started to flower a bit later than usual but by the end of the month it had reached its peak.

Some more of the wildflower plants the volunteers set along the Spring Bank West verge last Autumn are now in flower, including Oxeye Daisies, Red Campion and Ribwort Plantain.

There is a lot of Cow Parsley growing along the verge. I also saw some more yellow flowers in the same family as Dandelions including Smooth Sow Thistle. There are many similar-looking yellow flowers growing in and around the cemetery, so it isn’t always easy to say what some of them are. But I think one of the plants is Hawk’s-beard.

The yellow flowers of Smooth Sow-thistle on the grass verge alongside the cemetery — **Smooth Sow Thistle (above)**

White and yellow flowers — **Hawk’s-beard**

I found another yellow flower in the cemetery – this Greater Celandine. It’s much taller than the Lesser Celandine, of which there are still a few to be seen in the cemetery.

Greater Celandine growing in the cemetery — **Greater Celandine**

The Hedge Mustard is now flowering. This plant has a tiny yellow flower and is easy to miss, but the cemetery wildlife seems to like it as I often found butterflies on it.

The tiny yellow flowers of the Hedge Mustard plant which are great for the cemetery wildlife — **Hedge Mustard**

It’s nice to see other colours appearing in amongst all the white and yellow such as the Periwinkle, and a few of the plants are still in flower. There are a lot more Germander Speedwell growing in the cemetery this year and their vivid little blue flowers are easy to spot among the greenery. But the plant with the tiniest flowers must surely be the Ivy-leaved Speedwell. There is a lot of it growing in various places but you might not have noticed the flowers because they’re such a pale colour and they’re only about 4 mm wide.

A blue Periwinkle flower and green foliage — **Periwinkle (above)**

The mall blue flowers of Germander Speedwell — **Germander Speedwell (above)**

The tiny blue flowers of the Ivy-leaved Speedwell — **Ivy-leaved Speedwell**

I also found some Rock Crane’s-bill growing in the Cemetery, and some Herb Robert. These splashes of pink contrast nicely with the greenery.

Rock Crane's-bill in the cemetery — **Rock Crane’s-bill (above)**

Herb Robert

Insects

I haven’t seen any new species of butterfly this month. Those that I did see on several occasions were the Orange-tip, Green-veined White, Small White, Large White and Holly Blue on the grass verge. And I could almost guarantee seeing a Speckled Wood in the Quaker Burial Ground every sunny day this month!

A male Large White butterfly on a Dandelion — **Large White (male) (above)**

A Large White butterfly laying eggs on Hedge Mustard — **Large White laying eggs on Hedge Mustard (above)**

Holly Blue butterfly (female) on a leaf — **Holly Blue (female)**

I was very pleased to see this – a Common Green Shield Bug – early in the month. There are several species of Shield Bug native to the UK and they get their name from a shield-shaped mark on their backs, although it’s not particularly visible in this photo.

A Common Green Shield Bug on a Dandelion — **Common Green Shield Bug**

The grass verge was buzzing with hoverflies and several species of bee this month, including this Red Mason Bee.

A Red Mason Bee on a Dandelion — **Red Mason Bee (with Ant)**

Birds

I saw the usual species I’d expect to see throughout the month, such as Magpies, Carrion Crows, Wood Pigeons, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Chaffinches, Wrens, Blackbirds and Robins. I occasionally saw Dunnocks, Long-tailed Tits and Stock Doves but I didn’t see any Coal Tits this month. In fact it’s been a while since I last saw one.

A singing Robin perched on top of a noticeboard in the cemetery — **Robin**

I also heard Chiffchaffs calling from high up in the trees, hidden by the leaves. I also saw what I think was a Sparrowhawk perched atop the tower of Thoresby Street school but this was just as the sun was setting and it was mostly in silhouette. Later in the month I got a brief glimpse of a male Blackcap but my most thrilling sighting was of a male Bullfinch one day, and then a couple of days later I saw a male and a female together. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get any photos.

Conclusion

I’ve concentrated on the flowers and insects this month because there was so much variety to be seen. I also took part in the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge for Hull at the start of the month. Some of the photos I took for that project are included here. Each submission to the website/app is called an observation, and I made most of these observations in the Cemetery or on the grass verge. Here’s a link to the results for Hull:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&project_id=152160&subview=table&view=observers

The back of a Squirrel in the cemetery — **“I’m behind you” – a Squirrel to end the report!**

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

Ms Crackles

November 27, 2021November 29, 2021 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.

Pete Lowden

Pete Lowden is a member of the Friends of Hull General Cemetery committee which is committed to reclaiming the cemetery and returning it back to a community resource.

petelowden.co.uk