On Sunday afternoon, St Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead opened up the church to celebrate the diversity of butterflies and to take part in the Big Butterfly Count.Despite the windy and wet conditions, some butterflies were spotted, origami butterflies were attempted and we had a flutter of butterfly cakes. Butterflies were also hidden around the church to spot and interesting facts were learnt.During our visits to the church over this year, we have spotted at least eight different species of lepidoptera. We enjoyed the event and look forward to repeating it next year, although perhaps with better, butterfly friendly weather.If you would like to see the results head over to: https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/ and please think about joining the count next year. You could also download the iNaturalist app to record and identify other flora and fauna.
On the 14th June, St Mary’s church in Little Burstead held an open afternoon to celebrate Love Your Burial Ground and Churches Count on Nature – an annual, week-long event by the charity Caring for God’s Acre.It was a lovely afternoon and we had a variety of people with differing knowledge counting the myriad birds, insects, plants, lichens and evidence of mammals. Unfortunately, this year there were no reptiles but it was lovely to appreciate God’s creation in a beautiful setting. It is always incredible seeing the variety of God’s handiwork in the diversity and detail.You can go to https://uk.inaturalist.org/projects/beautiful-burial-grounds to see a map of where we saw the different species, although it was not always accurate.This year, we also spent time focusing on our burial ground and that was also humbling seeing details that are easily missed. It has also inspired us to look at ways to enhance our grounds to increase diversity, so hopefully next year’s event will surpass this year’s.Our next event is for the Big Butterfly Count.
As we are half way through the year, we thought it was time to explain some of the pictures that have been appearing on our pages.For the last two year's a talanted member of the congregation has been producing a calendar for St Mary's and other people who may be interested. We decided to publish the pictures from each month so that everyone can enjoy them. This year's theme was Christian sayings or quotes. I wonder which will be your favourite.Next year's theme will be prayer.Please contact us if you would be interested in purchasing a calendar or if you have any suggestions for future projects.
