Eco Church, Count on Nature Week Report
Eco Church
Churches Count on Nature week in June was dull and damp, resulting in no butterflies being recorded in the churchyard, which was disappointing. However all six common species of bumblebee were seen around the conservation bank and wildlife friendly garden, as bumblebees are well suited to foraging in cooler weather. There were a surprising number of other insects recorded but this may have been because they were sitting on vegetation trying to get warm enough to fly. One of these was a Broad Centurion Fly with an iridescent green body, which was completely new to us. Eight species of birds were present, including a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls on St Mary’s tower and a Goldcrest singing from one of the Yew trees, as well as a Blackbird feeding a newly fledged chick with churchyard worms. Of the eighty five species of flowering plants, the most exciting were the forty spikes of Common Broomrape flowering among the vegetation in the brick tomb opposite St Michael’s porch. Broomrapes are part of nature’s way of regulating itself as they are parasitic, plugging their roots into those of plants around them, rather than manufacturing nutrients themselves by photosynthesis. This means they keep more robust plants in check and it was noticeable that the Alkanet, which last year was growing all over the tomb, was not present this year.
Notices
Sunday 21stJuly & 4th August Café Church is our more informal service starting at 10.30am in St Michael’s. There will be tea, coffee, juice, croissants and muffins, as well as papers to read from 10 o’clock.
‘It’s Your Move’ booklets. These are the booklets we give to the Year 6 pupils to help them prepare for the move to High School. This year there are 32 children in this group and the booklets are £1.83 each. If you would like to donate towards their cost, please give the money to Sue Cripps. Any excess will go into the Ann Munt children’s fund.
