FRIENDS OF BEDFORD CEMETERY NATURE WALK PAGE

The Cemetery in August 2010

The last full week of the month saw a great deal of rain. Some places in East Anglia saw a month’s August rainfall in one day. We were fortunate in having just a week’s worth in a day.

There’s a bit more bird activity to report this month. I’ve heard Great-spotted Woodpeckers drumming a few times. There was a flock of Greenfinches (best I do here is a “trembling of finches”) on the eastern edge early in the month. Some welcome rain brought out the snails and the Song Thrushes returned to their habit breaking them open on convenient stones and rocks (the thrush’s anvil). Previously they’d been eating berries in the manner of Blackbirds. On 9th at sunset I had a good view of a Grey heron flying over the Cemetery. I don’t think there is another British bird that changes its geometry more between standing and flying. The folding back of the neck and the huge wings make it look like a different bird!

I had a moment of very temporary excitement one morning. At some distance I spotted what I thought was a Ring Ouzel. This is a thrush very like a Blackbird but with a white breast band. When I got a little closer it proved to be a Blackbird with a pale patch of feathers under the neck. Ho-hum.

I hit a peak of Brown Argus butterfly numbers on 15th. There were five spotted in the conserved grassland, including a courtship flight with two hopeful males in pursuit of a female. The blue family (Lycaenidae) seem to have done well this year with increased numbers of Holly and Common Blue and the first Small Coppers for some years.

Migrant Hawker dragonflies have done well this year – I saw five in relatively small area on 29th.

I note that the leaf-miners are back at work on the Horse Chestnuts. The transformation to brown leaves makes phenology (see below) a bit difficult if you’re looking for leaf-tinting!

There are large amounts of Beech mast falling. I have also seen quite a lot of Lime and Sycamore seeds dropping. This is often a sign of drought stress as the trees keep their genetic options open by creating lots of seed in case they succumb to lack of rain.

There’s an opportunity to see how quickly opportunistic plants take over by the southern path. Some Privet bushes have been cut down and the bare ground very quickly colonised by Smooth Sow-thistle, Creeping Thistle and Bittersweet.

Part of my phenological recording involves looking at various fruits during the autumn period – and autumn has arrived even if I think it’s late summer! Currently, Blackberry, Elder, Rose, Hawthorn and Black bryony all have ripe fruit.

One expression of irritation – the conserved grassland has been cut again. I appreciate that it must be cut annually but this is a month too soon. And if you do it right, the mowings should be raked off to reduce soil fertility.

The Cemetery in July 2010

There are slightly fewer actual observations this month as I was away and made fewer visits.

The weather was a mixed bag – we had the highest temperatures of the year in the early part of the month but some slightly unsettled periods (although with little rain) later. In fact East Anglia had only 68 per cent of the normal rainfall amount and I believe Bedford had significantly less than this.

The orchids were over by the end of the month – not a single Pyramidal Orchid to be seen. Agrimony, Lesser Knapweed, Restharrow, Dwarf Thistle and Nettle-leaved Bellflower either came into flower or reached their flowering peak. Dwarf Thistle is also known as Stemless Thistle or (if you recall my walks where I referred to this species as a picnicker’s bane) Picnic Thistle.

Last year I mentioned that the taxonomy of Elms had been described as “Byzantine”. Since then I have been reading a book by Oliver Rackham (“The History of the British Countryside”). He discusses Elms in some depth. His contention is (derived from other authorities) is there are many Elm types. The Wych Elm Ulmus glabra is the only distinct species. The others can be grouped either into six species and eleven hybrids or forty type varieties based on type localities. Looking at leaf shape and texture, I have tentatively concluded that the Cemetery has English Elm, Wych Elm, intermediates between East Anglian Elm and intermediates between English and East Anglian Elm. In addition there is a Wych Elm variety fairly recently planted near the Gatehouse, which is similar to one in Gordon Square Gardens in London and is therefore probably Weeping Wych Elm Ulmus glabra “Camperdownii”.

There’s one really good bird report. A Green Woodpecker pair nested in an old Ash tree on the northern boundary. The young could be heard peeping as one adult fetched food and the other stood guard on the trunk near the nest hole. By the end of the month the young had fledged and flown.

There are three new butterfly species to report: Small Copper, Brown Argus and Gatekeeper. The Small Copper butterfly caterpillars feed on Common or Sheep’s Sorrel. Since Sheep’s Sorrel grows only on acid soils, we have to conclude the former is being used in this case. If you remember my entry on how blue butterflies are blue…the metallic colour of the Small Copper is created the same way. There is even a variety (ab caeruleopunctata) which has a row of blue dots on the dorsal hind wings.

I’ve noticed one other thing about butterflies this year – Buddleia is scarcely being used. This seems to happen every so often – I don’t know why.

Mammals, apart from the Grey Squirrel, were not much in evidence, although I did see a vole. It was too quick to identify fully so I don’t know if it was a Bank or Field (Short-tailed) vole.

The Cemetery in June 2010

I’d like to start on catching up on a few items from May:

The fledged Robins have returned to the footpath just over the Northern edge of the Cemetery. I am struck by the naiveté of these young birds. Adult Robins are quite approachable in Britain but this behaviour was not the balance of risk and reward shown by adult birds but a complete unawareness of the danger – I had to be careful not to step on them!

I said last month that pink-flowered Horse Chestnuts seemed to flower later than the white. Just day or two after I submitted the copy I observed a group of the pink-flowered variety in Bedford Park that had set fruit at the same time as the white! Hoist by own petard!

Sadly, the Bee Orchid mentioned last month, being outside the conserved area, disappeared under the mower before flowering. However, there was a compensating flowering of Pyramidal Orchids in the conserved area. I counted 108 – and I’m sure that was an incomplete total! There were also a fair number of Common-spotted Orchids.

Now for the “new” stuff! A great variety of plants came into flower: Fairy Flax, Bladder Campion, White Campion (these two in proximity so the different features of these similar plants could be compared), several species of native Geranium, Goatsbeard (the flower closes on lack of sun, explaining one of its folk names “Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon” – the seed head is very like a large Dandelion), Bramble, Lesser Knapweed, Lady’s Bedstraw, Hedge Woundwort, Water Figwort (growing near a leaky standpipe) and Self Heal. There are many Elderflower heads this year – I’ve noticed that other trees and shrubs have produced large amounts of blossom too, for example, Hawthorn and Dog Rose. A large number of Opium Poppies were growing on a soil heap (Poppies do well in disturbed ground).

Sparrowhawks have been quite active and there are as usual huge numbers of Wood Pigeons.

Butterflies I’ve seen for the first time this year are Meadow Brown and Large Skipper. Speckled Wood numbers are tailing off. Common Blues and Large, Small and Green-veined Whites have been seen too.

I saw Blue-tailed and Azure Damselflies on a few occasions. I may have seen a Banded Demoiselle but the glimpse was too fleeting to record the observation. This little Damselfly is one of the joys of summer with its bands of very deep iridescent blue on the wings of the male.

The Cemetery in May 2010

We had a great variety of weather in May. The month began cool, had a very warm period in the third week and ended cool. None of this greatly impeded the development of plant life. Several species of native Geranium came into flower, the hybrid Primulas flowered well, Bugle came and almost went, Hawthorn produced the best display of blossom I have seen for some time. The Greater Celandine (unrelated to the Lesser and actually a member of the Poppy family) flowered. At the risk of a boring list I also noted the first flowers of Red Clover, Twayblade Orchid (just before it was mown!), Ox-eye Daisy, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Dog Rose and Bird’s-foot Trefoil.

The Horse Chestnuts with the normal white flowers are now about over and the fruits (conkers!) are set. The pink variety are just now in full flower – there’s nearly a month difference in peak flowering.

One thing that happened last month but I did not report (because I didn’t realise it was a natural history event) was a brown dusty cloud blowing around the trees near the boundary with Bedford Park. I was with my wife Yvonne and we both assumed that some work was going on nearby (or maybe even a fire) but we couldn’t locate the source. Then this month we were on a walk in Chicksands Wood and Yvonne suddenly spotted the same phenomenon and immediately made the connection (she was much quicker than me!). The “dust” was pollen, blowing huge clouds from conifer trees. I just hope that nobody has hay-fever sensitivity to conifer pollen as this year seems to have produced a lot of it.

The birds have been very active – not surprising since this is the breeding season. We have had Robins, Great Tits and Blue Tits nesting in our garden (which lies only five or six metres from the North-eastern boundary of the Cemetery). That have all raised and fledged their broods and taken them over the back fence into the Cemetery trees. Tawny Owls have been calling by day. More Goldcrests have survived the winter (or perhaps migrated in) than I feared would be the case. On one hot day I came across a Mistle Thrush in the kind of “sun-bathing” pose normally associated with blackbirds – lying nearly flat, wings spread on the ground, beak open.

All the butterflies reported previously have been seen during the month and I can add Small White and Common Blue to the list. I haven’t seen a Painted lady yet so I am confident that this year will not be like last when we saw historically high numbers.

On May the 30th I took a group around part of the Cemetery in my usual “Spring Natural History Walk”. We saw Speckled Wood, Green –veined White, Red Admiral and Common Blue butterflies and most of the plants mentioned above. A Cotoneaster horizontalis shrub had large numbers of Bumble-bees on the flowers, probably collecting pollen rather than nectar. I am no bee expert but I think the following species were present: Bombus pratorum, B. terrestris and B. locorum.

One of our number (not me!) spotted a Bee-orchid with the flowers in bud and probably a week or so from opening.

I hope everyone enjoyed the afternoon on what was a sunny but windy day.

The Cemetery in April 2010

Last month I referred to the many colours of Common Dog Violet. There is a nice entry in Richard Mabey’s superb “Flora Britannica” which describes how the Victorians assiduously recorded all the colour variants in violets – most interestingly, he reports that there was a patch of deep red violets by a farm gate near Rushden some years ago. I wonder if they’re still there. The group of colour variants I reported must be the result of genetics. Although flower colour can be influenced by soil type (Hydrangeas are a good example), all those I saw were within a square metre, ruling out that as a cause.

Honesty is in flower at one site in the Cemetery, Lady’s Smock at another and the flowers of Ground-ivy (also known as Alehoof, Creeping Charlie, Run-away Robin, Catsfoot and Field Balm!) are widespread. Cowslips are flowering in many places, most especially in the conserved grassland where they share the space with Primroses and the many hybrids of the two. Also in flower are the first specimens of Garlic Mustard (Jack-by-the-Hedge), Bluebell and Cow Parsley. Trees and shrubs are budding or are in first leaf – Hornbeam, Silver Birch, Beech, Sycamore, Field Maple, Weeping Willow (also in flower), Hawthorn and Lilac. We had to wait until nearly the end of the month for Oak and Ash. Some Horse Chestnuts have started flowering.

The sexual form of Common Field Horsetail is showing in a number of places. This form, also known as Dead-man’s Fingers, is without chlorophyll and is limited to the reproductive phase of the plant. It will later be replaced by the more vegetative familiar form as a “fern-ally”. It may be a pest to the Cemetery maintenance staff and gardeners but this is a plant group with a long history – the fossil record shows quite similar plants in the late Devonian – about 375 million years ago. Huge specimens were browsed by dinosaurs. Even today it has uses – the pulverised stems make a finishing abrasive for high quality woodwork.

Red-tailed Bumblebees have been seen and the list of butterfly species has started to grow. I had added Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Orange Tip, Peacock and Speckled Wood to the Brimstone and Red Admiral seen last month.

Green Woodpeckers and Greenfinches are pairing and a pair of Magpies has built a nest in a tree immediately adjacent to the Cemetery. I have seen Blackbirds nest building – I suspect this has been happening for some time and I’ve missed it.

The Cemetery in March 2010

I wrote in March 2009 that “March is the month when things start to happen very quickly”. I had a feeling that this year that wouldn’t be true as the winter was still maintaining its grip. But as the month wore on, signs of spring were getting more frequent.

Daffodils came into flower, as did Red Dead-nettle, Primrose, Dog’s Mercury, Lesser Celandine and quite a variety of colour forms of the Common Dog Violet - near the top gate onto Cemetery Hill there is a patch of violets with colours varying from white through pink, pale mauve and deep violet. The Elms are in flower and the Horse Chestnuts (as of the last day of the month) have burst their stick-buds.

The first butterflies have been seen – Brimstone and Red Admiral. The latter was seen fluttering amongst Snowdrops – quite a sight given that Red Admirals were thought, until quite recently, to be unable to survive a winter here! We’ve also had the first sightings of 7-spot Ladybirds and White-tailed Bumblebees.

The Wild Clematis still looks attractive in its winter garb. It occurred to me last time I saw it that it looks like a rather large fluffy mass of frog spawn – the effect of the translucent fluff and the seed is really quite similar. On that same walk I came across a pile of Wood Pigeon feathers. The bird had clearly fallen victim to a cat or Fox and dropped its feather on death as, for some reason, Wood Pigeons do.

On a more cheerful note regarding birds, there were some flocks of Goldfinches passing through early in the month and Chiff-chaffs singing at the end.

The Cemetery in February 2010

During the course of the month I began to feel that all I would write would be a rehash of January, so unrelenting was the snow and cold. Bu towards the end of the month, things did start to change. Snowdrops flowered at the end of the month – the only type I have seen in the Cemetery are our “native” Snowdrops (the quotes are there because there is doubt that any of our Snowdrops are native). There are flower buds on some of the Daffodils – this time last year there were some flowers by now. Common Field Speedwell is putting on some new growth and flowering. There are leaves of Lords-and-ladies (also known as Cuckoo Pint and Wild Arum), Garlic Mustard (Jack-by-the-Hedge) and Primrose showing.

Among the birds, Blue Tits and Chaffinches are pairing up for breeding. There have been large numbers of Black-headed Gulls (rather sans the black head at the moment as they have yet to develop their breeding plumage)) in Bedford Park but the Cemetery doesn’t attract them enough to land – they simply wheel about overhead. I heard a Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming at the end of the month. This was almost certainly a male establishing his breeding territory.

7-spot Ladybirds have been active on the warmer days (at the end of the month).

On 20th February a small group of Friends went to Moggerhanger Park to look at the Snowdrops. They were certainly there – thousands of them under the trees. These had flowered earlier than those in the Cemetery – all were cultivars with a double flower. I counted 4 different sorts in all but may well have missed some varieties. Bluebell and Lords-and-ladies were putting up their first spring leaves.

The Cemetery in January 2010

January was much colder than we have been recently used to and with much more snow – everyone will have noticed this! One thing that the snow allowed was the examination of animal tracks. There were some Muntjac deer prints visible in a few places. Squirrel tracks were easily seen – a narrow trace of paws with a streaking pattern where the tail brushes the snow. Such tracks go straight for a tree and then disappear! I am not sufficiently skilled to distinguish Fox tracks from those made by small dogs.

Mixed flocks of Tits have been evident – Great, Blue, Coal and Long-tailed. The Great Tits are becoming very vocal – their song has been likened to a rusty saw or squeaky gate. Tawny Owls continue to call at night. Robins, normally very aggressive birds to one another, are beginning their courtship and pairing-up.

A significant number of Ivy berries are now ripe and the glossy black fruits are very popular with Wood Pigeons who gather in large groups to feed.

Rather late (January 31st!) the first hazel catkins are dropping pollen.

I have also to report one possible sighting made right at the end of December. I noticed Magpies mobbing what I took to be a Carrion Crow. Another glance (it was all there was as the birds moved behind trees) and the “crow” seemed far too big. Magpies are smaller than Carrion Crows but the size disparity in this case was striking. Since Ravens are known from a few sites in Bedfordshire (including the RSPB headquarters at Sandy), this sighting was certainly possible but must remain unconfirmed.