Craig the Cat Gives another Guided Tour of Craigmillar Cemetery

 I'm continuing my work surveying the wildlife in the 43 cemeteries managed by Edinburgh Council. Yesterday, I surveyed Mortonhall Cemetery and the grounds of the Crematorium, but doe to issues with my camera memory, I don't have any photos of that visit! (You can see photos from my previous visits to this cemetery here and here.)

Today, I revisited Craigmillar Castle Cemetery, the newest cemetery in Edinburgh. As last time (see this post), I was given something of a guided tour by Craig the Cat.

 Craig is a very capable tour guide 

 

but does need to have regular rests

This cemetery has wonderful views over to the Pentlands at one side 

and Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags at the other 

There is a lovely flower bed planted with a range of flowers that are enjoyed by pollinating insects, including mayweed  and common poppy

though there weren't many insects there when I stopped by (possibly because the flowerbed was in the shade at the time, though the recent declines in insect populations have been very obvious).

The ornamental chives and Lambs' Ears at the other end of the cemetery were being visited by a good number of bees, including this Buff Tailed Bumblebee

I saw a few butterflies, including a Comma, a Small Skipper, a Small Tortoiseshell and a few Meadow Browns. None of them stopped for their photo (but you can click on the links to find out more about each species). I've entered all my butterfly records into the Big Butterfly Count, which runs until 7 August.