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.