Last week the weather was so lovely that I decided to visit the churchyard of St Giles, Packwood to see what Spring flowers I could find.
St Giles dates back to the 13th century and is dedicated to St Giles, the Patron Saint of beggars and the lame. Those of you who have been visiting my blog for some years will probably remember the church as it is one I visit quite often.
Timothy enjoying the Spring sunshine.
Lesser Celandine
Primroses
Early Dog Violet
I discovered a useful tip recently to distinguish between Early Dog and Common Dog Violet. In the former the spur behind the flower is the same colour or darker than the petals and in the latter the spur is a pale cream.
Aubretia flowering by the church porch had
a bee fly hovering around it - my first sighting this year. Sorry for the rubbish photo I just could not get close to it.
Daffodils galore
The porch contained jars of Spring flowers and hearts with flowers.
Lichen on the church gate
This is a memorial to Graham Baron Ash who died 20th February 1980 and his parents. The family lived at Packwood House and Graham Baron Ash gave it to the National Trust.
Old scratch or mass dial
There is an hour on Twitter every week dedicated to #AnimalsinChurches with a different theme every week. The main idea is to tweet photos of animals real and imaginary that are seen in churches and churchyards. Thoughts of this hour prompted me to take this photo.
Sadly, I failed to see any butterflies in the churchyard although I did see a Brimstone in the lane as I approached St Giles.
Garden Wildlife
The first bee flies are appearing in the garden too along with a variety of bumble bees. I haven't yet put my moth trap out but moths seen include Common Quaker and Emmelina monodactyla.
The first frogspawn appeared in the garden pond on 24th March. Strangely this year I have seen very little frog activity and there is less spawn than usual. I do wonder if the Common Newts (of which there are dozens) have been eating all the frog tadpoles over the years and the pond frog population has declined.
I spotted a Speckled Wood yesterday by the new mini greenhouse on the patio - sorry rubbish photo again I could not get close.
Frogspawn
Blue Tits are nesting in a nest box - we have managed to replace the nestbox camera so hopefully I will be able to post a few photos for you to see the progress. House Sparrows are nesting in a hole in the roof and Blackbirds have been seen collecting nesting material.
After St Giles I paid a brief visit to the gardens at nearby Packwood House but I will do a separate post.
All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera
14 comments:
Is the church open? I've never visited it 🙄
It's always lovely to go out and about with you, you always find something interesting to share. I didn't know about the special hashtag on Twitter for animals in churchyards. I wonder if all the flowers and hearts had anything to do with Mothering Sunday?
The Quacks of Life - Yes, it used to be although I haven't been in recently. It is interesting (wall paintings) but dark! The lady I saw on my first visit (a church warden?) told me it was kept open as a refuge for the "homeless" in case they needed shelter (something to with St Giles and his beliefs I think). When I next go I will double check it is still kept open. It is about a mile from Packwood House.
Rustic Pumpkin - thank you so much for your lovely comment. The hour on Twitter is on a Wednesday between 1 and 2 and if you search #AnimalsinChurchesHour you will see the tweets. Last week's theme was #AnimalsOutsideChurches. I am on Twitter as Ragged Robin @CarolineIrwin3!
I never thought about them being for Mothering Sunday (I had thought perhaps a wedding) but your suggestion makes more sense :)
You did well to spot the old scratch / mass dial.
A few years ago I watched as the common newts in my pond attacked the frog spawn.
This year has been a good one here with what appears to be hundreds of tiny tadpoles wriggling about the pons.
Midmarsh John - Thank you. I believe there is another scratch/mass dial at the church but have never found it!
We had mallard here every Spring for a few years and finally realised they were visiting to eat the tadpoles! But we do have a lot of newts! Glad to hear you have so many little tadpoles - heartening to know despite the newts they can still thrive :)
I love the spring flowers and the newness it brings to life
It looks like a good churchyard for wildlife. It's funny I was just talking to someone this morning who mentioned that a local farmer had tractors on his gravestone (random I know!).
I am sorely lacking in butterfly sightings so far this year - only one so far, it's good to see they're about though.
Pam - Thank you and yes it is good for flowers. Interesting about the local farmer to you and tractors on the gravestone. I know some of the ancient one can sometimes have items depicting someone's trade but it appears the idea continues.
I've only see three butterflies - two in the garden and the Brimstone plus one unidentified "white"!
Another bursting-with-spring post! And a boost as I'm reading it on a dark grey day, hoping an April shower will come and pass on! I'm particularly pleased with your violet ID tip, though we have few 'violet' violets out at present. What we do have are the white ones I bought at Osborne House almost exactly a year ago... I'm so pleased they survived the winter after their milder start of the island.
Margaret for Birding - Thanks so much Margaret.
Caroline Gill - Thanks so much - so glad it has brightened up the day - sunshine and showers here too! I think too complicate issues there are other violet species e.g. scented (but as my sense of smell is not brilliant might have a problem with those!). So pleased you have white violets from Osborne House and they have survived - what a lovely reminder of the holiday to bring home :) Once when we were there they had myrtle plants - grown from an original plant which was grown from a sprig in Queen Victoria's wedding boquet - and I can't tell you how much I now regret not buying one!
What a lovely post and photos, loved looking at the church and the wild flowers. So nice to see some frogspawn in your garden.
Amanda xx
Amanda Peters - Thanks so much - so pleased you enjoyed :) Just hoping newts don't eat all the tadpoles this year!!
Lovely spring blooms. I see Timothy is enjoying their scent :-)
CherryPie - Thank you - Timothy does enjoy the flowers :)
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