Holy Cross Churchyard Plant Survey - End of August

On the 26th of August, I did the fourth and final visit of the Sussex Botanical Recording Society's Churchyard survey. Although Fuchsia is a cultivated plant and doesn't count for this survey, it was lovely to see the bright red flowers dripping over the side of the Churchyard wall and buzzing with honeybees.

Holy Cross Church, Uckfield

One of many honeybees on the Fuchsia

As I went in I heard sounds overhead and looked up at a group of House Martins dipping and diving as they hunted their insect prey. Going into the churchyard itself, I noticed that it was loud with birdsong.  The star of this little show was a Robin that seemed to follow me around as I looked for plants.

After the previous Sunday's service Mum had brought home a piece of unusual-looking grass for me to identify.  After 20 minutes scrabbling through books and Googling, I identified it as Cockspur (Echinochloa crus-galli). 

Cockspur, between the old and new brick paths.

I found dozens of plants, lining both sides of the lovely old brick path that goes from East to West across the churchyard.

Detail of Cockspur flower head.

Towards the South end of the Churchyard I found a beautifully carved headstone.

1880 headstone.

On one of the old graves, I found a clump of Reflexed Stonecrop (Sedum rupestra).

Reflexed Stonecrop.

The ever-irrepressible Dandelion (Taraxacum) flowers held their heads high above the neatly mown grass, providing a feast for pollinators such as Hoverflies.

Two different species of Hoverfly on one Dandelion flower.

In the miniature world of the short grass, I found another new species for my list.

Small Flowered Cranesbill (Geranium pusillum).

While I was trying to identify this, a lady stopped and asked what I was doing. I told her about the survey and we chatted about wildflowers and walks, then she went on her way. 

I found my last 'new entry' near the war memorial. It is Canadian Fleabane (Conyza Canadensis). The tiny petals have a slight lilac tinge.

Canadian Fleabane

Canadian Fleabane - tiny petals tinged with lilac.

It is a strange and poignant coincidence that the Canadian Fleabane should appear next to the War Memorial. During the Second World War, the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherlands Highlanders of Canada was stationed in Uckfield for about a year.  The BBC article, Lorne - The Canadian Soldier, tells Peter Hunter's personal account of one of the soldiers. Another of the Canadian soldiers, Private Lyall Wright Wotton, married a local girl and is remembered in Uckfield's roll of honour.

Big Butterfly Count - 2017

This post outlines my results for the 2017 Big Butterfly Count. I didn't even have to wait for results to know that 2017 was a much better year for butterflies than 2016. This year I decided to do my counts in as many different places as possible so I don't have as many garden counts as usual.

Counts from an Uckfield (Sussex) garden

I recorded more butterflies per count than in previous years.

Year	Number of garden counts	Average number of butterflies	Total number of species	Most numerous species
2014	10	6.6	10	Gatekeeper
2015	12	9	13	Gatekeeper
2016	10	6.1	8	Large White
2017	4	11.75	9	Meadow Brown

For the first time, since I started taking part in this survey, Small Coppers appeared in my counts.

Small Copper in our Uckfield garden.

One morning, when coming back from getting my newspaper, I saw several Six-spot Burnet Moths clinging to the long grasses in our no-mow zone. I started my count right away so I could include them.  I found a chrysalis attached to one of the stems and wondered if they were all newly emerged.

Six-spot Burnet moth in our Uckfield garden.

The graph below shows that Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers dominated my garden counts.  Last year, Large Whites took the lead.

Butterflies counted in our Uckfield garden during 4 counts.

Hempstead Meadow Nature Reserve, Uckfield

I did one count at Hempstead Meadow.

Hempstead Meadow	count 1
Common Blue	3
Gatekeeper	4
Large White	1
Meadow Brown	5
Red Admiral	1
Ringlet	1
Small Copper	1
Speckled Wood	1

I was charmed to see a trio of Common Blues dancing around the Meadow Vetchling in the grassy area.

Common Blue dancing amongst the vetchling flowers.

West Park Nature Reserve, Uckfield

I did two counts in West Park Local Nature Reserve and someone else did a third. I know about the third count because the Big Butterfly Count results page enables you to zoom in on a location and find out more about the counts taken there. The counter found a fantastic number of Common Blues.

West Park Nature Reserve	count 1	count 2	count 3
Common Blue		4	10
Gatekeeper	5	3	10
Large White			2
Meadow Brown	5	2	4
Red Admiral		1	1
Ringlet	2
Silver Y	1
Small Copper		1	1
Speckled Wood			1

Of course, there are butterflies that I missed. One of the ones that got away was a possible Fritillary in West Park. It was big, orange and too fast for me to catch up with. I also did some counts in Leatherhead, where I took the photo below.

Silver Washed Fritillary - Leatherhead

Now I just need to wait for the results of the whole count to be analysed and published.

Holy Cross Churchyard Plant Survey - End of June

On the 24th of June, I recorded the plants in Uckfield's Holy Cross Churchyard for the Sussex Botanical Recording Society's Churchyard survey. As the weather was miserable on the day I did the survey I returned on the 1st of July to check some IDs and take some photos. This is my third visit, the first two being at the beginning and end of April. 

I've already recorded over 80 species and it was good to see some properly out in flower, like the Bird's Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) shown below.

Bird's Foot Trefoil.

I heard a buzzing and took a closer look at the bee pollinating the flowers.

Common Carder Bee on Bird's Foot Trefoil.

I was intrigued by the writing on the gravestone. The weather-worn letters were difficult to read but I could make out ...

 

THOMAS BROOKE ...

.... Uckfield ...

 

WHO DIED FEBRUARY 3rd 1876

....

Blessed are the pure in heart

... shall see god.

Thomas Brooke may have been a tailor on Uckfield High Street or one of his family.

Nearby a White-Tailed Bumblebee was foraging in the hedge alongside the churchyard.

White-tailed Bumblebee on bramble flowers.

Some of the plants I recorded are those little weeds that are so familiar that we hardly even see them. Identifying them obliged me to take a proper look at them.



Distinguishing between Willowherbs by comparing the share of the stigma (central female part).

The Collins Wild Flower Guide has keys that help me pick my way through different types of similar flower. The two Willowherbs I found were:

• on the left, with an undivided stigma, is Square Stalked Willowherb (Epilobium Tetragonum)
• on the right, stigma has four lobes, is Hoary willowherb (Epilobium Parviflorum).

The big, showy Evening Primrose flowers are a complete contrast to the dainty little willowherbs. Surprisingly, there are members of the same family.

Large Evening Primrose.

I thought that an evening primrose would be straightforward to identify but, again, there are several different species.

Red speckles on Evening Primrose stem.

The red speckles on the stem and other details helped me identify the plant as Large Evening Primrose (Oenothera glazioviana).

Yellow seems to be the colour of June. Another yellow flower that I added to the list was Smooth Hawkweed (Crepis capillaris)

Smooth Hawkweed.

Another plant we take for granted is grasses. I found a few more to add to my list including some that had escaped the mower because they are inside the metal railings around plots.

False Oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius)

I'm sure that the Goldfinches and House Sparrows that I have seen in the churchyard will appreciate the seeds.

I finally managed to identify the large fern by the door as a Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas). I find ferns very difficult to identify. This time, my trusty plant guide directed me to inspect the spores and the edges of the leaves.

Male Fern - underside of leaf showing spores.

One of my favourites this time was Yellow Fumitory (Corydalis lutea).

Yellow Fumitory growing on the church walls.

After this it was time to leave the memorials, birds and flowers behind and visit the Farmer Market.