Friends of Holnest Church

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Friends of Holnest Church About the Friends
The aim of the Friends is to help conserve and maintain the fabric, furnishings and fittings of the church, and to support the Church.

Join us at the church to celebrate the harvest and sing well known Harvest hymns. Gifts for the local food bank welcome ...
03/10/2026

Join us at the church to celebrate the harvest and sing well known Harvest hymns. Gifts for the local food bank welcome (tins preferred).

and report October 2026It was a beautiful autumn day, cool but with a clear blue sky and the moon still showing ...
01/10/2026

and report October 2026
It was a beautiful autumn day, cool but with a clear blue sky and the moon still showing clearly. The trimmed grass in the churchyard shows the rows of the last mowing so the only flowers showing were a few golden Dandelions. Despite recent rains neither the ditch at the back nor the stream alongside had any flowing water in them, only a few puddles.
The hedges were alive with small birds nipping back and forth amongst the thicker parts of hedge, mostly t**s and Robins, but it was hard to tell at times as they moved so quickly. We stood for quite a long time watching a Chiffchaff in the Hazel branches near the grass pile as it demonstrated its skills in fly catching. There were quite a few flies about, but only small ones and it must have needed a lot of them to make up for the effort involved in catching them.
Another special moment occurred when our attention was caught by a bird flying over that was a form of thrush, initially it seemed like a fieldfare, the first of our winter thrushes, but on reconsidering it was most likely a Mistle Thrush, too big for a Song Thrush. It would have been early for a Fieldfare, though the first Redwings have been heard on Lundy.

Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Jackdaw, Mistle Thrush, Robin, Rook, Woodpigeon

Some Leatherjackets had hatched and the Crane flies (Daddy Longlegs) were on the wing. The fruits in the hedges are waiting for the birds to come along in the winter and feast on them, the hops in particular are looking very good. If you see birds amongst the hops then it is most likely that they are after the caterpillars, aphids, and spider mites which eat the hops. The Oak trees had a lot of regular wasps on the leaves but it is unsure what their purpose was. They kill other insects and caterpillars to feed to their larvae, but the adults only eat sugars and oak leaves do not emit sugar; though it is possible that some aphids had deposited sugars on the leaves earlier.
On the wild rose stems there are some lovely rich red hips, but if you look you will occasionally see the fluffy reddish green ball of the Mossy Rose Gall Wasp, called Robins Pincushions. They are caused by the larvae of a tiny gall wasp that feeds on the parent plant, but causes little damage; you can see them on the roses by the road bridge. It is also called Bedeguar Gall and is common on dog roses towards the end of summer or early autumn. Each gall holds many grubs, which feed on the gall tissues throughout the winter and emerge in spring as adults. The adults reproduce asexually and only a tiny number are male; the females are about 4mm long and the males about 3mm, they are mostly black in colour with parts of the abdomen being amber or chestnut coloured.

and report September 2026The day was totally overcast and there had been rain, so the air felt fresh and moist. ...
04/09/2026

and report September 2026
The day was totally overcast and there had been rain, so the air felt fresh and moist. The churchyard has had its late summer cut and most of the arising’s have been taken away. Despite recent rains the ditch to the west of the church was still dry. The mature trees on site are showing the impact of the long dry spell with a lot of leaves having been shed from the Poplars, Lime and Hazels. The fruit crop of sloes and haws this year looks quite meagre so the birds might find it a hard winter.
Bird wise the activity has picked up a bit on last month but mostly the birds were skulking in bushes, except the corvids and pigeons. No swallows or martins flew past, so I expect they are on migration; there were quite a lot at Weymouth yesterday fattening up for their journey.

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Robin, Rook, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Today for the first time we have been really conscious of a lot of bat droppings on the altar and the windowsill behind it. We presume it was from Pipistrelle bats that we have seen in the churchyard before and even in the church. There is a picture below and you might just be able to make out insect carapaces and even a leg.
There were a few Knapweed flowers poking up after the mown grass and the bindweed is still looking good, but as last month it was the Autumn Hawkbit that was mostly providing the nectar for butterflies. After about an
hour on site the sun tried to come through and brought warmth; we saw Common Blue, Small White, Small Copper and Clouded Yellow butterflies. The Clouded Yellow flies very fast and they are truly migratory European butterflies which are regular visitors to Britain and Ireland. Although some of these golden-yellow butterflies are seen every year, the species is famous for occasional mass immigrations and subsequent breeding, which are fondly and long remembered as ''Clouded Yellow Years’’; this year might be considered to be one of those.
Other insects were in small numbers with a few flies and the occasional wasp.
We read in the notes at the front of the wildlife folder in the church, that in August someone had made complimentary remarks about the folder and useful observations about butterflies. If they get to read this report, then thank you for your comments.
We have removed the corrugated hibernaculum’s from site as after some 18 months they have not attracted snakes or lizards. The pictures below are not to scale.

Great opportunity for a catch up.
15/08/2026

Great opportunity for a catch up.

and seen and heard from the August 2026It’s another sunny day, must be about 6 weeks now wit only 1mm of rain. You...
03/08/2026

and seen and heard from the August 2026
It’s another sunny day, must be about 6 weeks now wit only 1mm of rain. You can see it in the brown stems of the grass and knapweed and hear it as the grass crunches under your feet. The flower tubs by the porch door look good, but they have probably been watered. Traffic on the road dominated the soundscape and drowned out anything except a close conversation. It is noticeable that where the grass has a bit of shade, like west of the tower, then it still has areas of green. The ditches are dry and the river isn’t flowing; it just has a small pool of water under the road bridge.
Bird wise it was quiet, only 9 birds seen/heard of 6 different species. In August 2025 we recorded 14 species with 58 birds, albeit 38 of them were corvids. The dominant bird today was a Buzzard that circled over us throughout our visit; possibly it was waiting until we had gone before flying over the churchyard itself. A couple of swallows flew past, but no martins; I suspect that the martins have already started their migration. The swifts in Sherborne are also on the move with only a few juveniles left to build up their strength for the long journey ahead. The Wood Pigeons were making their characteristic summer cooing sound.

Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Jackdaw, Swallow, Woodpigeon,

The main wildflowers showing their colours were Yarrow and Bindweed, plus a host of low yellow Autumn Hawkbit. This is a widespread perennial plant that was playing host to several bumblebees. They were dashing about all over, from flower to flower, and as they landed on a new one it bent down under the bee’s weight to nearly touch the ground. Across the road there are some pretty blue Chicory flowers in the field. The Knopper Gall Wasp has left its mark on the Oak Trees; the larvae will feed on the inside of the galls without harming the trees. The hogweed stems have blanched white at the base, but remain red part way up. There are some autumn fruits coming now such as sloes and haws. The other day we were given a jar of sloe and haw jam, we are looking forward to tasting it.
Several butterflies are in the churchyard including Small Copper, Speckled Wood, Common Blue and quite a lot of Cabbage Whites, probably Small Whites.

One for the diary, probably the coolest place to be,
27/07/2026

One for the diary, probably the coolest place to be,

**FULLY BOOKED** reserve list operating! # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #Fantastic opportunity to visit this wo...
22/07/2026

**FULLY BOOKED** reserve list operating!
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Fantastic opportunity to visit this wonderful place 🦋🐛🌸 BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL (limited spaces available).. for information 'click' on poster photo!

and report for at .We decided to do an evening visit to see what bats were around, sunset was at 9:27pm. There ...
06/07/2026

and report for at .
We decided to do an evening visit to see what bats were around, sunset was at 9:27pm. There was still a lot of light in the sky and it was 17deg.C when we arrived. Traffic was dashing along the road, possibly people rushing home to get an early night before the England vs. Mexico football late kick-off.
A few bees were still nectaring on the vetch and there were some moths about but not very many. We looked for Purple Hairstreak Butterflies above the oak trees as they are so common at present but they were not over these trees tonight.
The last of the House Martins passed over on their way to their nests and an occasional corvid was heading homewards. A few Blackbirds made their way into the trees around the churchyard but the only bird singing was the Wren. The cloud formations were mostly Cirrus, but some Cirrocumulus. Cirrus clouds are delicate, feathery clouds that are made mostly of ice crystals. Their wispy shape comes from wind currents which twist and spread the ice crystals into strands. As the sun dipped below the horizon red gently coloured the clouds.
Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, House Martin, Jackdaw, Magpie, Pheasant, Robin, Woodpigeon, Wren.
If you have a fear of bats then it’s probably best that you stop reading now. The pictures look ferocious, but remember they are small mammals and not interested in people.
The UK is home to 18 species of bats, 17 of which are known to breed there. All are insectivores and protected by law. The most common are the Common and Soprano pipistrelles, tiny bats weighing just a few grams that consume thousands of insects a night. Bats emerge from their roosts at different times after sunset, some also before sunset. Their echo location calls differ according to the species, with call frequency ranges from 15 – 130 kHz. The frequency, the type of noise and the flight pattern are clues as to the particular bat that is flying.
Last year when we checked for bats in August we identified Common Pipistrelles and a Noctule Bat in the churchyard; this year we had the Pipistrelles again but also a Serotine Bat. Both are widespread and fairly common. The serotine is one of Britain’s largest bat species (320 – 380mm wingspan) and usually one of the first to appear in the evening. Its broad wings and a leisurely, highly manoeuvrable flapping flight with occasional short glides or steep descents are distinctive. They roost in crevices, particularly in buildings. In spring, serotines mainly feed on flies and moths; in summer, it particularly favours chafers and dung beetles.

Festival @ Church What an absolutely fabulous display of flowers all over the church this weekend. I expect they wil...
14/06/2026

Festival @ Church
What an absolutely fabulous display of flowers all over the church this weekend. I expect they will be there for a few days. Many thanks to all those who put so much effort into it,
The cakes and cream teas were superb as well.

Flower Festival and Cream Teas come along it’s fabulous
14/06/2026

Flower Festival and Cream Teas come along it’s fabulous

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Sherborne, Dorset
Sherborne
DT9 5PL

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 10:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 10:30am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

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