On entering the churchyard on a sunny day in May, my senses are assaulted from two directions. The first is a large patch of Germander Speedwell, the brilliant blue colour of its diminutive flowers reflecting the welcome sight of some blue sky above. The second is the spectacular concert of bird song which comes from all directions.
I’m not an expert on bird song and I use an app called Merlin: this will listen from your phone and flash up on the screen the name of each bird as it sings. In the space of about five minutes, it recorded no less than 15 species. The bass in the background is the call of the woodpigeons and collar doves. These are complemented by the orchestra of the more usual suspects: robins, blackbirds, sparrows, wrens and tits. Then in comes the song thrush, repeating each call twice over to make sure we have recognised it. And finally, from high up in the yew trees, the thin, high-pitched reedy call of the goldcrest – invisible as it flits around the canopy, but unmistakeable once it has been pointed out.
On the ground, there are many plants
in bud but do take a minute to explore
the beauty of some of the grasses.
Sweet Vernal-grass would surely be
on the must-have list of every florist if
its stems were larger. The flower has
white, curling awns which make it very
decorative if only you get close
enough to see them. The flowers
have small glands which contain an
essential oil, coumarin. This is the
grass to which our summer hay
meadows owe much of their fragrance.
So back to the Germander Speedwell, another
flower which repays close examination. Today there is a strikingly coloured bee visiting the blooms. It has bright orange legs and antennae, with black and yellow banding on the abdomen. This is a Nomad Bee, one of a group of clepto-parasites or ‘cuckoo bees’ that lay eggs in the nest of other bee species, particularly mining bees. They lay their eggs in unsealed brood cells. When it hatches, the larva kills the host bee egg or grub. It then proceeds to feed on the nectar and pollen food store.
So much for my idea that wildlife behaves better in a churchyard!
Nigel Symington
