By Helen Bovill
Another dry month, with only light rain on a few cooler days. There were some warm, even hot, sunny days too, with temperatures in the mid to high 20s during the middle of the month. It ended with a mini heatwave over the last weekend, peaking at 30C today (30 June).
Birds
There were lots of newly fledged birds around, including Great Tits (above), Blue tits, Robins, Goldfinches and Blackbirds. I didn’t have as much time as usual to watch them as I’ve been on holiday for a couple of weeks. But it seems to have been a successful season for the cemetery birds so far.

Blue Tit

Blackbird (female) with food for her chicks
Insects
Also on the wing this month were plenty of hoverflies and bees. Although very common, it wasn’t until later in the month that I saw my first Marmalade Hoverfly of the year. I also saw Sun Flies, Common Flower Flies and a Batman Hoverfly. I noticed clouds of tiny insects too – great food for the birds to feed to their chicks.
The thistles on the Spring Bank West verge were teeming with bees, ladybirds and other small flies. A couple of the thistles had webs spun around them, and I managed to find the owner of one of them – a Nursery Web Spider - guarding her newly hatched young, known as spiderlings.

Nursery Web Spider

Phania Funesta (I couldn't find a common name for it)

Marmalade Hoverfly

Ashy Mining Bee

Batman Hoverfly, named after the mark shaped like the Batman logo (just near to where the wings join the body).

Red-tailed Bumblebee
And in a first for the cemetery, I saw a damselfly one sunny day. It only remained still long enough for one quick photo, which unfortunately isn’t clear enough to identify the species. It could be an Azure Damselfly or maybe a Common Blue, possibly a female due to its greenish brown colour.

The first Damselfly I've ever seen in the Cemetery!
I saw very few butterflies this month which is always the case in June – only Green-veined White, Small White and the ever-reliable Speckled Wood.

Small White Butterfly, laying eggs on a Hedge Mustard plant
Plants
The Elder trees are now in full flower throughout the cemetery giving fresh displays of green and white everywhere. This balances out the plants which have now finished their life cycle for the year. The Cow Parsley has now died and the Hogweed has started to die back too. But whilst there are parched, dry-looking areas in a few parts of the cemetery this is balanced out by the Ivy covering the ground, the glossy green leaves allowing the soil underneath it to retain some of its moisture, especially in the shaded areas.
Other plants I found in flower this month include White Campion, Red Campion, Hedge Woundwort, Hedge Mustard, Nipplewort and one I’d never noticed before – Shepherds-purse. Another first for me was Charlock, which I found at the eastern end of the cemetery

Elder

Hedge Woundwort

White Campion

Shepherd's-purse

Nipplewort

Charlock
Conclusion
June was a good month for the cemetery wildlife, with plenty of warm sunshine and some rain to help the summer plants to grow. But the footpaths in the cemetery are all still dry, making walking around it even more of a pleasure than usual.

Your squirrel of the month, surrounded by Elder (bottom of photo) and Dogwood (top of photo, with white flowers)
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