Well, the Moth Breakfast took place on 2rd June at 7.30am. The weather was cool but dry. Sadly, because of a cold night we didn't get as many moths as we had hoped, but still had about 46 confirmed species and several of many of them. Everyone had the chance to pot moths from the traps and add them onto the tables and write their species on the lining paper covering the tables - so the list grew and grew, adding to some of the more spectacular ones that had been potted and put out initially. Finally, the croissants, pains au chocolat, toast and cookies were eagerly consumed. The 30 people there had a great time and were quite taken aback by the amount of life we normally don't even see in the world around us.
On 5th February about 30 people gathered in the gentle candlelit space of Trusham Church for a Taizé Service. led by the Rev Sandra Gill ( a frequent visitor to Taizé) and Yasmin Mann, we were immersed in the gentle chants of the Taizé music interspersed with short readings and prayers along with silence to allow our hearts to hear God's voice for each of us.A wonderful reflective time, aided by a small music group from Chudleigh, that felt very powerful, healing, and thought provoking.
Since the summer of 2020 we have been recording all the plants and flowers, invertebrates and fungi that we have identified in the churchyard. We believe this is important as the church was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 so the land is ancient and has many similarities to a wildflower hay meadow which has had no insecticides or ploughing and so is very important from a biodiversity point of view.Our identifications, as at 20th April, 2023, now total:148 plants204 invertebrates34 fungi, lichens and protistaA moth trap has been used since March 2022 and, from the trap set on 10th April, the Shoulder Stripe became the 125th recorded species. During the winter we continued to get new moths at each trap set though no moths were caught in January. But we did have a November moth in November, a December moth in December and a Winter moth in December. We've also had several new ones in traps in March and April increasing our total from 100 to 126!We neatly maintain the main area where the graves are that are currently cared for by relatives and friends, but we leave other areas uncut except once a year, and other parts cut less frequently. We have provided water for birds and animals, solitary bee and insect homes, and have cut pathways through the areas managed for wildlife to allow people to wander and see the different wildflowers and fungi at different times of the year. We have sown 12 patches (each approx 2 sqm) with yellow rattle and mixed wildflower seed from local sources. Rattle grows on the roots of grasses, preventing them from growing so much and allowing other wild flowers to grow naturally from seed already in the soil or from new locally sourced seed. This is to try to help the grass to be less thick in places as we do our best to help wildlife to thrive. If we get rattle growing we can use our own seed to do more patches in the very grassy areas. We are pleased to be recognised as a Wildlife Friendly Garden by the Devon Wildlife Trust.On another news item you can download fairly up-to-date records of all that has been seen and identified.
