By Helen Bovill
May started off hot and sunny, with temperatures of up to 27C on the first day of the month – the hottest 1st May ever recorded in Hull. The warm sunny weather continued, with some cooler and duller days following in the second week. It was still very dry though, with all the footpaths dry, even dusty in some places, and easy to walk on. It wasn’t until the last week that we finally got some rain, although there were no torrential downpours and it was still very mild. But any pools of water that formed, however small, would have been a most welcome sight to the cemetery wildlife.
Butterflies
I was very happy to see my first, and so far only, Red Admiral of the year (pictured above). I only saw it because it was being chased by a Speckled Wood, the most numerous butterfly species in the cemetery. The Red Admiral landed briefly, allowing just enough time for a quick photo, and that was it.
May was a quiet month for butterflies. The only other species I saw were Large White, Orange-tip and Green-veined White.
Other Insects
Always on the lookout for something new, I found a tiny little insect on the Information Board. It doesn’t seem to have a common name so I'll just refer to it by its scientific name, Campyloneura virgula. I saw my first Thick-legged Flower Beetles of the year, on the verge alongside Spring Bank West, and I saw bees and hoverflies along there and inside the cemetery as well.
I found a very unusual-looking Ladybird that was gold on one side and red on the other. It was a Harlequin, a species that’s incredibly varied in its appearance. I also saw lots of Ladybird larvae throughout the month, most of them being Harlequins.
Campyloneura virgula (nymph form)
Harlequin Ladybird
Thick-legged Flower Beetle (male)
Harlequin Ladybird larva
Thick-legged Flower Beetle (female)
Narcissus Bulb Fly
Birds
The month started with a song from a Mistle Thrush in the western end of the cemetery. The first Sunday in the month was International Dawn Chorus Day so I got up early to listen to and hopefully record some of it. I was there well before 5am but I could only record a few seconds at a time before having to stop due to the sound of the traffic going by on Spring Bank West.
Later in the month the first fledglings of the year started to emerge, and I saw young Blackbirds, Robins, Blue Tits and Great Tits.
Mistle Thrush
Blue Tit. It seems to have found some tiny bugs, or perhaps insect eggs.
Great Tit fledgling
Plants
The month started with the Wild Garlic in full bloom all over the cemetery. But by the end of the month the flowers had gone and seeds started to form on the wilting plants. The Oxeye Daisies on the verge were in flower, and I found a small patch of Common Daisies inside the cemetery. With no grass growing around them, I was able to see their usually hidden leaves.
Wild Garlic. Top - taken 1st May. Bottom - taken 30th May.
Oxeye Daisies
Common Daisies
Lots of the cemetery’s plants are now in flower. I found one I’d never seen before, which turned out to be a Radish of some sort, not far from one of the Horse Chestnut Trees that is now in flower. There are lots of flowers on the Pyracantha bushes that line the back of the verge.
Radish. I'm unsure of the specific species.
Horse Chestnut
Pyracantha, also known as Firethorn
At the front of the verge the Hedge Mustard is now in flower. This plant is favoured by some of the white butterflies for egg laying. Another new plant I found was Red Valerian, and all around the cemetery I found little splashes of colour representing most of the main flower colours. Despite the lack of April showers, the cemetery still got plenty of May flowers!
Hedge Mustard
Red Valerian
Burnet
Germander Speedwell
Common Mallow
Musk Mallow
Poppy in the Quaker Burial Ground
Dog Rose
Corky-fruited Water Dropwort
Rock Crane's-Bill
Red Clover
White Clover
Fungi
I don’t have much to report, other than being delighted to find this partially eaten, large Dryad’s saddle in the centre of the cemetery.
The City Nature Challenge 2025
As mentioned in my previous month’s report, I spent the last weekend of April recording as much wildlife as I could find within the Hull city boundary. This was organised by iNaturalist, a worldwide citizen science project. 26 UK Cities took part, some of them covering much larger geographical areas than others. Hull was one of the three smallest sized areas yet despite this it was placed 7th overall, with 1,292 different species being observed. I found nearly 400 things to record, many of them in the cemetery of course.
Hull General Cemetery has its own dedicated project page on the site, showing that over the past few years a total of 363 different species of flora and fauna have been recorded there. I’ve found over 200 species myself so far – the cemetery is a wonderful place to immerse yourself in nature!
Conclusion
All the trees now have their leaves unfurled, creating a lush green canopy. I’ve been surprised at how green the cemetery and its verge actually is, despite the lack of rain during what has been one of the driest springs on record. The final day of the month was very warm and sunny – I hope this continues into June!
This month's Squirrel, a youngster feeding on the unripe fruits of an Ash tree. The tree is laden with these fruits, called samaras.
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