A wing, a prayer and a weasel

You’ve probably been in St James’ churchyard and seen the bats from the bell tower take to the wing at dusk or watched the swifts in the daytime.  And perhaps you’ve shared a prayer or two with the vicar?  But have you ever seen a weasel there?

As a group of churchyard enthusiasts helping to manage the grounds, we were entranced to spot one. It enjoyed the sunshine on a gravestone for a few minutes, then disappeared into the undergrowth. Weasels are small, shy animals that eat voles and mice, hunting them in undergrowth rather than open ground.

The church’s Management Plan sets out to promote greater biodiversity while respecting the needs of a burial ground.  We were delighted that a weasel had found a home in the churchyard as it’s evidence that the Plan is working. 

On that day, we were there to identify plants and insects as part of our regular biodiversity surveys. We were guided by ecologist Tim Kaye from the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust. He brought us field guides, magnifying glasses and his immense knowledge of creepie crawlies. If you’ve never studied insects close up, it’s a revelation to see their colours and shapes in detail!

Through these surveys, we’re building up a baseline of what’s present so we can track how effective our efforts are over time. By necessity it’s a long process, but we hope it will be a useful resource not only for Colwall but for the region too.  We’ll be adding more detail of our findings to our website as we uncover them.

New members are always welcome to join our monthly Saturday morning churchyard work parties (1000-1230, including coffee and biscuits), contact colwallchurch@outlook.com to find out the dates for 2025.