By Helen Bovill
July began with the tail end of the heatwave that started at the end of June. Then we had another short one a week later.
According to the Met Office website, “A heatwave is an extended period of hot weather relative to the expected conditions of the area at that time of year, which may be accompanied by high humidity. A UK heatwave threshold is met when a location records a period of at least three consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures meeting or exceeding the heatwave temperature threshold. The threshold varies by UK county…. The threshold temperatures have been calculated using the 1991-2020 climatology of daily maximum temperature at the mid-point of the meteorological summer (15 July).”
The threshold for Hull and East Yorkshire is 26 C. This is higher than the whole of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
But we also had some much-needed rain on quite a few days, a mixture of light showers, steady rain lasting several hours, and the occasional short torrential downpour.
Dogwood berries, some of which have started to ripen.
Insects
After seeing the first Marmalade Hoverfly of the year last month, I saw lots of them this month. There were plenty of other small insects around, including other types of hoverfly, bees, smaller flies and bugs, and lots of ladybirds including a good number of our native 7-Spot ones.
Overall it’s been a very interesting month in which I saw a number of “firsts” for the cemetery including a Three Spotted Nettle Bug, a Turnip Tigress and a Harvestman spider.
Three Spotted Nettle Bug
Turnip Tigress on a bin liner
7-Spot Ladybirds
Huntsman spider on a large fungus
Another first for the cemetery was the cinnabar moth, or rather its caterpillars – I saw at least five of them on the Ragwort growing on the verge alongside the cemetery.
Cinnabar moth caterpillars on Ragwort
Cinnabar caterpillar in close-up
I also saw a large dragonfly in the Quaker Burial Ground – it was flying low back and forth for a few seconds before flying up into a tree. I didn’t manage to get a photo as it was flying too fast, but it was a type I hadn’t seen in the cemetery before. It was a bronze/green colour, and as several species have females of this colour, such as the Emperor and some of the hawkers, it could have been one of those.
Butterflies
I saw another first for the cemetery – a Ringlet, on the verge alongside the cemetery – but only on one day, so it could have just been passing through. When I describe anything as a “first”, it’s simply the first time I saw one. The species could well have been present in the cemetery or passing through it for a number of years before I saw it. I was simply in the right place at the right time this year.
Ringlet, looking pale on the photo. It was actually a much deeper, dark chocolate brown.
Ringlet, showing the distinctive rings on the underside of the wings.
This brings the number of different butterfly species I’ve seen in the cemetery over the years to 15. This includes a Painted Lady I saw around six years ago – I haven’t seen one in the cemetery since!
I only saw 8 of those species this month and the whites – Small, Large and Green-veined – were the most abundant. I saw lots of them flying low to the ground, laying eggs when the weather was warm and sunny. It seems to have been a good year for them. I saw plenty of Speckled Wood but only the occasional Holly Blue, Comma and Red Admiral.
Red Admiral
Large White, laying eggs on Hedge Mustard
Plants
I noticed how popular our yellow flowers are with insects, but there aren’t many in flower at the moment. I saw over a dozen Marmalade Hoverflies crowded onto and around one small dandelion as you can see in the photo at the start of this report. There are a few Ragwort plants growing on the cemetery verge and I saw all sorts of small insects on them. This plant is a valuable resource for the insect branch of cemetery wildlife.
I saw two types of daisy-like flowers – Feverfew, and Mayweed although I’m not sure which species. I also found some Toadflax – a delicate little plant, a bit like a small snapdragon.
Feverfew
Mayweed (species uncertain)
Toadflax
I found another first for the cemetery – Burdock. I’m not sure which type – the commonest ones are Greater and Lesser. It can look a bit like Knapweed at first glance, but the leaves are completely different. Other plants in flower this month are Brambles, Bindweed, Herb Robert, Hedge Mustard, Wood Avens and Charlock.
Burdock (species uncertain)
Knapweed
Birds
Many of our birds are now busy feeding their newly fledged chicks. It can sometimes be difficult to tell them from the adults but there is no difficulty where Goldfinches are concerned. Adults have yellow wing patches and black and red markings on their faces. The chicks lack those facial markings but have the yellow wing patches. But they don’t stay young for long, and will soon have their full adult plumage.
I also saw young Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Blackbirds. I noticed a pair of Coal Tits coming and going, with food for their chicks, but I didn’t manage to see where their nest was located.
Goldfinch (adult)
Young Blackbird waiting to be fed
Goldfinch (juvenile)
Coal Tit (adult)
Fungi
I’m grateful to our volunteers for pointing out some interesting fungi to me this month. One mushroom looks like some sort of Bolete, and another very large one looks like a Tuberous Polypore.
Bolete
Tuberous Polypore
Conclusion
July has been a month of contrasts, with heatwaves, rain and gusts of wind. Some large branches came down as a result of the rain and wind, but the volunteers quickly cleared them away. The footpaths in the cemetery were soft and damp for around a week, but are now back to being dry and ideal for walking on.
Your Squirrel of the month. See you next time!
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