St Chads Churchyard

This lunchtime I ventured down to St Chad's Churchyard. Patches of flowering grasses played host to approximately 30 butterflies, predominantly darker shades of Ringlets and Meadow Browns interspersed with lesser numbers of Speckled Wood, Green Veined White, Small White and a couple of Comma. I only managed this Ringlet before the battery failed me.




Splashes of colour Orange Hawkweed, (Hieracium aurantiacum) amongst Ribwort Plantain and Cat's Ear (Hypochoeris radicata).

St Chads lunchtime wander

Having seen little sunshine for the past few days I took the opportunity to meander down to St Chad's Churchyard at lunchtime. Having reviewed my pics it appears the wander was made up from a palette of greens and golds. Speckled Wood's greeted me at the entrance to the churchyard, three of them taking turns to challenge each other for prime position on sun splashed nettle and bramble leaves.



On the return walk these tall flowering grasses caught my eye.

St Chads

A few sightings from today's lunchtime wander to St Chad's Churchyard, Headingley. A handful of Speckled Wood butterflies favour a patch of sun soaked brambles and nettles located at the entrance to the churchyard making for regular sightings.





In the churchyard itself I noticed this little moth, although not the sharpest of shots I was glad to come away with a couple of pics for ID purposes. At first I thought it might be a Small Yellow Underwing (Panemeria tenebrata) but it looks suspiciously like the moth that Dean recently posted on DDD which is a Mint Moth (Pyrausta aurata). If anybody can help it'd be most appreciated.

And from the spring/summer range, Buttercup with feather boa, floral chic darling, it'll be all the rage in Primarni before you know it.

I also enjoyed an unexpected lunchtime sighting of an adult fox on the border of the churchyard that backs onto neighbouring gardens. My immediate reaction was that somebody had let their dog loose to wander around a working area of the churchyard, so I tutted and rolled my eyes, only to realise that it wasn't a dog at all and with that realisation came the disappearance of the fox, not something I was expecting to see but all the more reason for a regular visits.

St Chad's Churchyard, Headingley

Wandering through St Chad's Churchyard you can't help but notice the flowering clumps of Ribwort Plaintain (Ribwort lanceolata) at the moment. A familiar perennial wildflower, its brown flower heads sit on top of tall unleafed stalks, with dark green, deeply veined lanceolate leaves.


Here's a fine description of the flowerheads from Botanical.com "The sepals are brown and paper-like in texture and give the head its peculiar rusty look. The corolla is very small and inconspicuous, tubed and having four spreading lobes. The stamens, four in number, are the most noticeable feature, their slender white filaments and pale yellow anthers forming a conspicuous ring around the flower-head. "

I seem unable to walk past these flowering grasses without lifting the camera, I'm certainly drawn to the near abstract qualities of the views they provide as they sway in the breeze.

Walking back through the campus this Crow was perched on a tree stump beak ajar and wings held open, similar to pose adopted by the Crow we saw at Rodley on Saturday. Couldn't help but think that it might have been more beneficial to pick a more shady spot....

Friday wander around St Chad's

Today's lunchtime wander to St Chad's churchyard was accompanied by a chillsome wind and the occasional burst of sunshine. On the way, on campus two Mistle Thrush collected food from the ground under the emerging canopies of beech and cherry. The pair are presumably nesting nearby as they're are a familiar sight, boldly holding their own against the local Jackdaws.

In the churchyard a Song Thrush surveyed the grounds from above. (At least I think this ones a Song Thrush, it appeared smaller and rounder).

After a couple of lazy circuits of the churchyard I decided it was probably too breezy for butterflies, and smiled to myself as almost immediately I spotted a Peacock butterfly on the ground no more than half a metre away. Other than an occasional adjustment, angling itself to make the most of the sun, and a brief moment on the wing it remained there for the rest of my stay. I imagine the surrounding vegetation provided welcome shelter from the breeze.

On the way home I couldn't resist a pic of a nearby Lilac bush coming into blossom.

St Chad's Churchyard Friday Wander

On a lunchtime stroll to St Chad's churchyard I was rewarded with clearer views of one of the pair of Jay that I glimpsed briefly last week, what a lovely bird it is.

Here's my first decent shot of a Speckled Wood that greeted me as I entered the churchyard and later settled nearby amongst paper thin golden leaves. The Speckled Wood was my most familiar butterfly last year, it prefers the dappled shade of hedgerows and woodland margins, I welcome its return and look forward to many more happy encounters.

Three Blue Tits fed on emerging pinnate leaves (Rowan or Ash perhaps), the spire of St Chad's Church can be seen in the background of the first pic. Note to self: must identify this tree on my next visit.

Field Horsetail Equisetum arvense, growing by a gravestone, Phil Gates (Cabinet of Curiosities) recently blogged about Equisetum telmateia, and as usual its well worth a read.

St Chads Churchyard

St Chad's was a sunny haven this afternoon and on stepping into the churchyard almost immediately a pair of Jays flew overhead. Both birds carried twigs, landing briefly in view before settling safely out of sight.

High up on a neighbouring tree, a Nuthatch called out loudly, and sat amongst the bursting buds preening itself in the sunshine.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew overhead, Robin and Dunnock darted between the hedgerows, a pair of male and female Blackbirds collected worms from the grassland, and a Blue Tit continually flew to and from a nestbox. To my delight my first Speckled Wood butterfly of the year landed smack bang in front of me and darted off as soon as I lifted my camera, the other butterfly sighting an unidentified white.

I noticed this plant growing through the grass on my previous visit, its Field Wood-rush or Good Friday Grass (Luzula campestris) so named as it emerges around Easter time. It is relatively short, between 5 cm - 15 cm in height, has three to six stemmed clusters of flowers. Its common on grassland in acid conditions, and spreads via short stolons and seed.

St Chad's Churchyard wander

During my lunchbreak I meandered down to St Chad's Churchyard, Far Headingley. Hoping that I might catch a little more butterfly action it wasn't until I decided to head back that I spotted a Peacock on the ground, it sat for a few seconds before I watched it swirl its way up onto the roof of the church. That's three in the area in last four days, starting with the Comma in the woodland, then the Small Tortoiseshell in the churchyard.

In the grounds of the church there are a couple of beautifully designed interpretative boards detailing the range of habitats and the fauna and flora they support. The boards are a collaborative effort by the Green Team of St Chad's, Leeds City Council and Stephen Huxley, designer.

According to the information boards butterflies that frequent the churchyard include, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell (which I saw on Friday), Holly Blue, Wall, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper. Although today's Peacock isn't mentioned, I'll take that as a positive and look forward to future treats.

Here's the view from the side of the church looking back towards Beckett Park woodland. Native trees such as Willows and Birch are dotted throughout the churchyard.

At the base of a sunny hedgerow, in dappled shade I spotted three clumps of Common Dog Violet, Viola riviniana.

With the blossom opening and the new buds emerging, this Prunus tree still held last year's fruit.

Beckett Park & St Chads Churchyard lunchtime wander

Today Beth joined me for a woodland wander and we ventured down to St Chad's Churchyard, a few minutes walk away. On the way we saw Mistle Thrush, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackbirds aplenty, Wren, Chaffinch, Wood Pigeon, Magpie and Jackdaw. In the churchyard, from a distance we watched a Blue Tit check out a potential nestbox. With the help of Beth's eagle-eyedness (she's very good, I'd recommend her to anybody out on a nature walk) we spotted a Small Tortoiseshell on the wing, second butterfly of the year in two days!