Hitchin Wildlife

  HITCHIN IN AUGUST (by Phil Barron, all photos my own) I particularly love insects and flowers and so August is always a good month with plenty to see.  Maisie's Meadow (near the Three Moorhens) One particular tree I often inspect is a Turkey Oak at Maisie's Meadow and I found this furry-looking weevil there showing off its magnificent nose. It spends most of its life within an acorn, only breaking out as an adult.   I disturbed a nice Treble Bar Moth which is associated with St.John's Wort plant (of which there is plenty in the meadow). Easy to spot was a cinnabar moth caterpillar (on Ragwort), but there have not been so many to spot recently and I haven't seen an adult at all this year. Mulleins are a biennial and are impressive plants also known as Aaron's Rod and usually flower before August, but this one was in bloom (might be a slightly different variety to the usual).   I notice that Steve & his volunteers have been busy cutting the meadow for hay, this

               HITCHIN CEMETERY: WILDLIFE HAVEN Hitchin Cemetery, on St John’s Road, was never set up to be a haven for wildlife so why has it become one? The answer lies in the changes that have taken place to the rest of the country. Intensely managed agricultural land, pollution, development and the everyday use of chemicals has massively reduced our local biodiversity. The cemetery was created in 1857, well before the widespread use of chemicals and its turf is the flowery meadow turf of our history and gives us a glimpse of a past world. Maintenance methods sympathetic to both wildlife and general public access allow a froth of white Cow Parsley in spring to surround the grave of Mary Dickens (Charles’s oldest grandchild). Since 2016 North Herts council, who are responsible for the upkeep of the cemetery, aided by Countryside Management Service and its volunteers, have instigated a new maintenance regime where carefully selected areas of the older Victorian section of the cemetery