By Helen Bovill
August was a month of contrasts, weather-wise, with a short heatwave earlier in the month. Then the week after that we had several dull, cool days when the temperatures were lower than average for the time of the year! There was some rain, mainly later in the month, but only on a few days and then only a few showers – nothing too heavy or prolonged.
This summer is set to be the driest on record, and as a result of this lack of rainfall many of the cemetery’s trees have already started to shed their leaves, a tree’s response to a lack of water. This is known as a false autumn.
Birds
Of course it’s still summer, and I noticed some of our birds were gathering food for their young. The warm weather means that a number of our local species start to breed slightly earlier and then raise a second brood, occasionally a third one.
I saw a juvenile Chiffchaff this month which was a surprise, but this migratory species does breed in the UK before heading off to warmer climes later in the year. My photo isn’t good enough for showing here though!
I saw most of our usual regular species this month, including Crows, Magpies, Blackbirds, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Wrens, Chaffinches (pictured at the start of this report), Goldfinches, Robins and Dunnocks. I caught a brief glimpse of a Treecreeper in the Quaker Burial Ground, but sadly I still haven’t seen any Bullfinches – it’s now been over a year since I saw one in the cemetery.
Robin - fledgling
Robin - juvenile
Robin - adult, perched on a headstone at Prim Corner
Robins, being highly territorial birds, will chase the youngsters away once the red breast feathers start to appear.
Goldfinches - juvenile (left); adult (right)
Dunnock
Trees and Large Shrubs
I enjoyed many strolls around the cemetery observing the wildlife. One day earlier in the month I was standing under this Hornbeam tree when I heard what I thought was rain. But it was actually the sound of seeds and small leaves falling from the tree, creating a green carpet around its base. By the end of the month, the area was covered with more autumnally coloured leaves.
Hornbeam
The winged fruit, known as samara, of the Hornbeam
August saw an abundance of ripe fruit for the cemetery wildlife to eat. Most is edible with only a minority, such as Lords-and-Ladies, being poisonous, and even then not to everyone.
Brambles
Blackthorn berries, known as sloes
Dogwood
Elderberries
Pyracantha, also known as Firethorn
Lords-and-Ladies .....
..... and a week later
Hogweed seedheads are another good source of food. I always encourage our volunteers to leave these standing when they’re clearing some parts of the cemetery – as well as being great for birds such as Goldfinches to eat, they make excellent photographic subjects.
Hogweed and cobwebs in the early morning light
Flowering Plants
Flowers were few and far between this month. The Ragwort was still in flower in a couple of places along the Spring Bank West verge.
Cyclamen
White Campion
Wild Basil
Autumn Hawkbit
Musk Mallow
Ragwort, with 7-Spot Ladybird, Small White butterfly (male), and Hoverflies
Insects
I only saw four different species of butterfly this month – Small White, Green-Veined White, Holly Blue and Speckled Wood. I got a brief glimpse of a Dragonfly on one of the hot sunny days. But I did find a stationary plume moth on the back of one of the headstones. I also saw lots of Ladybirds, and all of them were our native 7-Spot ones. They can be seen on several of the photographs in this report.
Speckled Wood
Plume Moth
Conclusion
It’s been another lovely month for wildlife watching, with the footpaths being dry and easy to walk on every day. I had two brief glimpses of a Fox – one during an early morning walk and the other in the middle of a bright sunny morning. I found some nice examples of Dryad’s Saddle mushrooms – the conditions seem to be just about right at the moment for their rapid growth.
Dryad's Saddle after overnight rain - the tiny pool of water should be very attractive to insects
And of course I saw lots of Squirrels, scampering around on the ground or chasing each other up and around in the trees. There is always something to see in the cemetery, whatever the weather, so why not pop in and explore this wildlife oasis just a mile from Hull city centre?
Your Squirrel of the month. See you next time!
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