Our living churchyard - September
When we have extraordinary weather such as we’re enjoying in early August, it’s hard to imagine what will seem relevant in a month’s time. Those with long enough memories refer back to the summer of 1976, when we had extreme drought conditions. Then, at the end of August, the weather changed almost from one day to the next: instead of sunhats and sandals, wellies, waterproofs and windscreen wipers became de rigueur for the next six months or so.
So what is the effect of all of this on our wildlife? Even though the fields and the churchyard may look dead, nevertheless today I counted ten different plants in bloom. The Common Blue butterfly, which I suspect is breeding in the churchyard, was there seeking nectar from whatever meagre source it could find, while other butterfly species flew overhead and the ground was still alive with bees and grasshoppers. Patches of beaten down vegetation indicated where an animal has perhaps found a place to spend the night: the sleeping place is remarkably consistent from one month to the next.
The problems for wildlife arise not in this generation, but in the next. Today’s insects may fly or crawl around and lay their eggs, but when these eggs hatch the drought can mean that their foodplant has already dried up for the season: many will die simply from lack of food. This happened in 1976: that season was not bad for butterflies, but 1977 showed a serious downturn in numbers. Extreme weather like this is yet another blow for an already threatened life form. The latest Red List assessment of butterflies, published in May this year, makes for grim reading. Of 58 regularly breeding butterfly species in Great Britain, 24 are now listed as Threatened and a further 5 are Near Threatened. British butterflies are among the most threatened in Europe and the deterioration of their status is continuing rapidly.
And this concerns all of us. An ever-increasing body of research tells us that access to green spaces in childhood seems to increase cognitive development and significantly reduce psychiatric disorders later in life. In the face of the continuing challenges that are thrown at it from all directions, it’s vital that we do all we can to ensure the survival of all the life forms that also call our churchyard home.
Nigel Symington