Adel Churchyard Orange Tip

At St John the Baptist Churchyard in Adel we spotted two male Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) on the go, occasionally resting to nectar on the purple flowers of Honesty (Lunaria rediviva). Whilst watching one at rest, the second male flashed into view at the top of the frame. This is the nearest Ive got to photographing an Orange Tip this year.

The colours of the Churchyard are constantly changing, Crocuses provided the first colour of the year, then Daffodils were suceeded by Bluebells, Forget-me-nots, Wild Garlic, and irregular patches of purple flowering Honesty standing above about the surrounding vegetation on tall thin stems. 

Here you can see the green seed pods beginning to form where the flowers have fallen, these will develop into the translucent round papery seedheads commonly found in flower arrangements.

There are usually a lot more Orange Tips around in Adel Churchyard at this time of year, a result of the poor weather I'm guessing. 

This Treecreeper picked its way up and around the tree trunk in front of the church, also spotted, Robin, Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tail Tit, Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Magpie, Crow, Mistle Thrush, Wood Pigeon. 

Adel Churchyard Bluebells & the Kate Middleton connection

In between today's downpours, a picture of bluebells in the grounds of St John the Baptist Church in Adel. According to the church website, "Kate Middleton's seven times Great-Grandparents, Francis Lupton and Ester Midgley were married in Adel Church in 1688. The grave of Ester's parents, Ralph & Frances Midgley 1694 lies close to the path by the main door." Who knew!

Adel Churchyard daffodil display

At St John the Baptist Churchyard in Adel the daffodils are in full bloom.

The church is one of the best examples of Norman architecture in Britain, built 1150-1170. The grounds of the churchyard are maintained to encourage wildlife and are involved in the Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts Living Churchyard Project.  It really is worth a visit, another must see is the nearby Yorkgate garden, a unique, beautifully designed one acre garden which re-opened this weekend.

During our visit there were Robin, Wren, Chaffinch, Long Tail Tit, Pheasant, Blackbird, Great Tit, Magpie, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Goldfinch. We spotted only one butterfly while we were there, a Small Tortoiseshell, although it was around tea time so not so surprising. A couple of years ago we spotted our first ever Green Hairstreak on a wilting daffodil in the churchyard in April 2010.  

 

Adel churchyard sightings

On a visit to St John the Baptist Churchyard in Adel I spotted a pair of Jays sunning themselves. The first one basking on the ground made little effort to rouse itself until disturbed by visitors heading in its direction at which it hopped into the holly tree above while the other moved into dappled shade on a nearby headstone.

After last weeks first butterfly sighting of the year at Rodley, I saw two more Small Tortoiseshells in the churchyard and watched a couple of Peacocks spiral up into the sky, despite my best efforts to track them down I managed to find one only for a brief moment pointing the camera in its direction before it disappeared again.

Flowering currant

Flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) in the grounds of St John the Baptist Church in Adel, after a downpour. An early flowering shrub whose scented pink hanging flowers open as the leaves emerge.

Small Copper in the Churchyard of St John the Baptist, Adel

During this weekend's variable weather we made the most of periodic sunshine and dropped in to the churchyard of St John the Baptist, Adel to see what was around.

Amidst the grassland, in sunny intervals, we were delighted by five or six Small Copper (Lycaena phlaes). Showing their bright copper coloured forewings, this pair headed towards us from the centre of the grassland to settle arms length away and feed from a buttercup. The churchyard contains patches of other foodplants, Hawkweed, Daisy, Dandelion, and Common Sorrel the larval foodplant of the butterfly.  

A Robin settled on a gravestone, accompanied in the churchyard by Blackbird, Wren, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Crow and Magpie.

A common moth Silver Ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) settled in the grass.



Adel churchyard butterfly sightings

During a previous visit to St John the Baptist churchyard in Adel, we caught a brief glimpse of a blue butterfly on the wing a few metres away for no more than a few seconds before it disappeared. Convinced that with good weather and a bit of patience we might manage a better sighting, on our return visit we were chuffed when it eventually appeared in the holly tree nearby.

It's a female Holly Blue, identified by the black margins to the upper forewing which are lacking in the males. It appeared to favour the newly emerged flowerbuds, flying to one bunch, settling for a minute or so before seeking another.

The next couple of pics indicate its intentions more clearly, it appears to be in the process of laying eggs, Thomas, J & Lewington, R (2010) The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland,  refers to the Holly Blue depositing eggs 'laid singly at the base of flowerbuds. In spring, by far the commonest host-plant is Holly, whereas most midsummer eggs are laid on the flowers of Ivy.' 

The egg hatches after approximately two weeks, at which point the caterpillar attaches itself to the fruit, making a hole in the surface to eat the contents. Must remember to look out for signs of the caterpillars in a fortnight or so.

Another highlight was this male Orange Tip, one of five in the churchyard. Although its a common butterfly I really struggled to photograph one last year as they appear to be constantly on the go but this one took a more relaxed approach to life, languidly feeding on dainty forget-me-nots. 

This one viewed from the opposite direction, where you can clearly see the green mottled pattern on its underwing.



Its a great spot for butterflies, we spotted a Green Hairstreak here last year and will be looking out for their return over the next few weeks, Small Coppers are regular visitors too. Other butterflies on the wing included Green Veined Whites x 5, Small White x 4, Large White x 2, Peacock x 3, Speckled Wood x 3, Small Tortoiseshell x 1.

Adel churchyard bluebells

Adel Churchyard has a fine display of bluebells at the moment. Just as the daffodils have faded, bluebells, forgive-me-nots, honesty and wild garlic, take their turn to flower in the grounds of the churchyard. The afternoon sun filtering through the emerging canopies to create patches of dappled sunlight on the native bluebells.

Adel Churchyard

As of last week I hadn't managed to capture any shots this year of Green Veined Whites at rest. Our trip to Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits provided the first pics and a visit to Adel Churchyard offered a few more opportunities to catch them feeding from the same flower Lady's Smock or Cuckoo Flower. The black tip on the forewing suggests that the first two are male Green Veined Whites.

A now familiar Small Copper, I watched it settle repeatedly on patches of earth where the vegetation was dried or worn away.

As we sat to admire the view this Mistle Thrush landed on a gravestone, other churchyard birds included, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Wren.

Adel Churchyard

We visited St John the Baptist Churchyard in Adel on Sunday. Its part of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's Living Churchyard Project, a tranquil, picturesque spot and within close proximity of the wonderful one-acre garden that is Yorkgate. The churchyard is currently full of bluebells, buttercups and flowering grasses.

The previous day, at Rodley I noted with interest that recent sightings included a Small Copper butterfly, I've never knowingly seen one, and had recalled Warren's pic at Pittswood Birds last week so it was up there on my list of ones to watch out for. So today I was so delighted to see not one but two Small Coppers at Adel. Whoop whoop!

As if that wasn't enough we spotted this small green beauty as it settled on a wilted daffodil flower, not the best pic but good enough for an identification, and I think this is a Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi). I was interested to see that Emma, Northumberland Naturalist and Frank, Early Birder both enjoyed sightings of the Green Hairstreak this weekend and managed better pics.

There were over 15 Speckled Wood's, along the perimeter hedgerows and in amongst the dappled shady areas, tirelessly seeing off all-comers whenever they strayed into their patch. A range of 20 White's on the wing, none obliging enough to pause for a picture, amongst them Small White, Green Veined White and Orange Tip.

Feathered inhabitants included, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Nuthatch, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, a female Mallard settled in the grass, and a Buzzard flew overhead mobbed by Crows.

Kirkstall and Adel findings

First port of call today was Weetwood Police Station, not as a result of any wrong-doing but to check out the carpets of Anmone nemorosa in the car park, the masses of beautiful pink tinged petals reach skywards on delicate stems, casting star shaped shadows on the foliage below. The shape and colour reminds me of a Clematis montana flower.

Then over to Adel Churchyard, full of daffodils in bloom, thinking it might be a good spot to spy butterflies the only sightings were two white species on the wing, and they never ever seem to rest. A couple of Song Thrush were feeding, this one had its mouthful while the other continued to pull worms from the grassed paths. Elsewhere we spotted a Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Long Tailed Tit, Blackbird and a female Mallard.

Venturing on, we spotted 8 Lapwing, one with 3 chicks, 7 Curlew, a Kestrel, a Hare, an inconspicuous Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Red Kites and a Skylark that obligingly provided the soundtrack to our wanderings.

We headed home ready for a cup of tea and a Betty's Fat Rascal. On reaching the doorstep something caught my eye, a Speckled Wood butterfly landed on the yellow leaves of Choisya ternata, Mexican Orange Blossom. A wonderful characteristic of a Speckled Wood is that they'll perch and pause just long enough to get a couple of pics and it kindly presented me with my first garden butterfly ID of the year.