By Helen Bovill
April was a beautiful month, weather-wise, with only a handful of cool, dull days. Those fabled April showers failed to materialise, with some light rainfall on only two of those days. The rest were warm and sunny, and the month ended with some very warm days, with temperatures in the mid-20s – well above average for April.
Birds
I enjoyed some lovely early morning strolls around the cemetery, and was delighted to get some really good close views of a Treecreeper (pictured above). I also got a more distant view of a Blackcap, and saw a small group of Long-tailed Tits flying in and out of some brambles. I heard Chiffchaffs calling to each other high up in the trees, and saw some of the cemetery’s regulars busy gathering nest material and flying in and out of the next boxes. The Wood Pigeons were active up in the trees, feeding on flowers and buds.
Blackcap (male)
Long-tailed Tit
Chiffchaff
Blue Tit. It seems to be trying to make the hole a bit bigger!
Wood Pigeon, feeding on the flower buds of an Elder tree
Plants Large and Small
The cemetery’s Ash trees finally started to wake up and flower at the start of the month. By the middle of the month seeds had started to form; by the end of the month the leaves had started to emerge.
Ash Flowers
Ash seeds
Ash seeds and leaves
The wild garlic is now starting to flower, and I was very happy to see flowers on a small Quince bush. And a bush I’d always thought of as Mahonia was in flower too. I only found out recently that this non-native species is also called the Oregon Grape, a type of berberis. I often use iNaturalist to help with identifications, especially of plants, and this has really helped to increase my knowledge of the many and varied species in the cemetery. During the last weekend of the month I took part in their “City Nature Challenge” as Hull was one of the cities that was participating. I’ll say more about that next month, when the results will be available.
Wild Garlic, also known as Ramsons
Quince
Mahonia or Oregon Grape, with Hairy-footed Flower Bee
Cowslips, Red Deadnettle, Yellow Archangel, Periwinkle and Greek Anemones were just a few of the plants I found in flower this month. But the main ones adding colour throughout the cemetery were Bluebells. However, I only found non-native ones.
Spanish Bluebell with Dark-edged Bee-fly
Spanish Bluebell (pink variety)
One of the white forms of Spanish Bluebell
Butterflies and Other Insects
In addition to the butterfly species I saw last month, I also saw Green-veined White, Small White, Speckled Wood, Orange-Tip and Holly Blue. That’s ten different species I’ve seen so far this year. This is entirely in keeping with what one can expect to find at this time of the year anywhere in Hull. The cemetery and its verge on Spring Bank West is the perfect place to see our spring butterflies.
Green-veined Whites. The male (in the air) was trying to mate with the female (on the leaf). Her raised abdomen indicates her rejection of his advances. It's possible this was because she was in the process of egg laying - the nettle she's landed on is one of the main plants the species uses for this.
Small White. The single spot on each upperwing indicates this is a male.
Speckled Woods mating
Orange-tip (female)
Orange-tip (male)
Holly Blue
I saw plenty of ladybirds this month, Harlequin ones probably being the most common. I say “probably” because some of our dozen or so native species are often difficult to identify and can look like Harlequins. A good example is the native 10-Spot as its markings and spot number can vary, but a native one that is easy to identify is the 7-Spot.
I saw lots of hoverflies and other flies too. And on the hotter days at the end of the month I found myself walking through clouds of tiny flies – plenty of food for the birds and other cemetery wildlife.
10-Spot Ladybird
7-Spot Ladybird
Harlequin Ladybird. It's good to see it's not just humans that are interested in our information board!
Common Flower Flies
Flesh flies. The one on the left seemed to be mating with the one in the middle; when the one on the left flew off the other two remained together.
Fungi
I found some King Alfred’s Cakes, also known as Cramp Balls, growing at the base of a tree. These were the first new ones I’d found for a couple of years.
Conclusion
There was an abundance of growth this month and this report really only touches upon the highlights as there was so much to see. April was one of the warmest and sunniest we’ve had for many years – great for wildlife and people too, with the footpaths easy to walk on and birdsong to accompany those walks.
Your squirrel of the month. See you next time!
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