April was generally another cool and wet month, with a higher than average total rainfall meaning the footpaths in the cemetery are still a bit softer than usual.
I noticed a huge amount of growth in and around the cemetery, with flowers blooming everywhere. However, there were plenty of warmer, sunny days too, and that was how the month ended. The cemetery wildlife is thriving, and many people have told me and the other volunteers how good everything looks.
Plants and Flowers Smaller ones March has been an excellent month for wildflowers. The ones planted by the volunteers on the grass verge last year are now starting to flower, such as this Cowslip. Inside the cemetery, especially in the darker shaded areas, Hogweed is now starting to flower. Note how the buds are a dark pink colour before opening up to reveal their characteristic white flowers. Yellow is still the dominant flower colour in the cemetery. There are still some Celandines to be seen, especially in the cemetery, but the Dandelions are in full bloom now as you can see from some of the above photos. I also found this unusual double Dandelion. These are all an excellent source of food for the insect branch of the cemetery wildlife. I also found a small patch of Yellow Archangel, and plenty of Wood Avens and Common Chickweed. The Bluebells have now started to flower but their peak time is in May so I’ll talk about them a bit more next month.
Bees and other insects
I’ve seen plenty of Bees of various kinds this month including Red, White and Buff-tailed Bumblebees, Honeybees, Hairy-footed Flower Bees and lots of Tawny Mining Bees. The first photo shows one that’s emerged from its burrow. The next photos show one making a burrow underground in which to lay its eggs. This is one of our native species of solitary Bee.
I’ve seen plenty of Bee-flies this month. Interestingly they’re a parasite of Tawny Mining Bees, laying their eggs in the Bee’s open burrow so that when they hatch the larvae can feed on the bee’s food and offspring.
Birds
I haven’t seen anything unusual this month. The regular species are busy gathering nest material and marking out their territories – the Great Tits are particularly loud at the moment.
Another bird with a very distinctive call is the Chiffchaff, which I always hear before I see it, singing from very high up in the trees and from quite early in the morning too.
Other small birds around in good numbers are Blue Tits, Chaffinches, Robins, Blackbirds and Long-tailed Tits. I’ve also seen Wrens, Goldfinches, Dunnocks and I also caught a quick glimpse of two Treecreepers. I haven’t seen any Coal Tits this month though.
Of the larger birds, I’ve seen Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Carrion Crows and Magpies.
Trees
When we think of flowers, we usually think of the ones that look like those in my previous photos. But trees also have flowers although they look quite different in appearance and colour. During the recent windy weather a lot of the tree flowers had fallen onto the ground, including several clusters of flowers from a Norway Maple.
The flowers of some trees are known as catkins. The Hornbeam is monoecious, meaning it has male and female catkins on the same tree. The male catkins are the largest – I’ve marked one of the smaller female ones with an arrow.
You can also see the flowers of the Spotted Laurel on the white butterfly photo – bottom left.
Fungi
Not much to report this month, apart from some Jelly Ear growing on an old fallen branch and a bracket of some type growing high up in a tree. The Velvet Shank that I used to see every day has all but disappeared, probably eaten by the cemetery wildlife!
Conclusion
SApril has been a great month for the cemetery wildlife, with lots of colour and activity to be seen. I managed to spend plenty of time walking in the cemetery and along the grass verge, especially on sunny days – here’s a collection of some of the photos I took on just one of those morning walks.
AUTHOR - 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.
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