{"id":16184,"date":"2022-05-01T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2022-05-01T06:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=32224"},"modified":"2022-05-01T08:30:22","modified_gmt":"2022-05-01T06:30:22","slug":"british-wildlife-in-may","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/british-wildlife-in-may\/","title":{"rendered":"British wildlife in May"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Ben Hoare\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 01 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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As spring casts its rousing warmth across the country, get ready for your wildlife sightings to soar.<\/p>\n

European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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A roe deer fawn lying down in grass. \u00a9 Mark Nicolaides<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Ridiculously cute roe deer kids are born in May and June, often hidden in long grass or bracken, where their spotty coats provide camouflage. Twins are the norm, unlike in Britain\u2019s larger deer, and the young now taking their first wobbly steps are the result of matings last summer. In the 1923 book of the same name, Bambi was a roe deer, not a fallow deer as many people assume.<\/p>\n

The scientific name of the European roe deer, Capreolus capreolus<\/em>, is an example of a tautonym<\/a>, where the genus and specific name are the same.<\/p>\n

Elephant hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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An elephant hawkmoth on climbing rose. \u00a9 David Chapman<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

It is May, and that means hawkmoth season is here again. Hawkmoths are huge and lovely, ensuring they are the most celebrated of all moth families. These are the moths everyone wants to see. In both size and range of colours, they outclass most British butterflies.<\/p>\n

But perhaps the comparison is bogus, because, scientifically speaking, there is no clear-cut difference between butterflies and moths, just as toads are technically frogs. James Lowen, author of Much Ado About Mothing<\/em>, puts it like this: \u201cButterflies are simply moths with good PR\u201d.<\/p>\n

With its beautiful pink-and-green livery, the elephant hawkmoth is one of the showiest members of a family known for its\nshow-offs. It flies after dark from May to July in much of the UK, including in suburbia. From July to September, gardeners find its snake-like caterpillars \u2013 that look a little like an elephant\u2019s trunk \u2013 crawling over flowerbeds or patios in search of somewhere to pupate. To deter predators, the caterpillars have two black eyespots on their backs.<\/p>\n

Western cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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A Western cattle egret. \u00a9 Oliver Smart<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The cattle egret is a little white heron with global ambitions. It is familiar throughout the tropics and spreading in temperate regions \u2013 the species ranges over more of the world than any other land bird, with the possible exception of the barn owl<\/a>. It has even turned up on the remote South Orkney Islands, which \u2013 as the egret flies \u2013 are not that far from Antarctica. And now the cattle egret appears to be colonising England.<\/p>\n

Cattle egrets have bred, or attempted to, in several English counties, often near the nests of little egrets or grey herons. For now, the breeding population is tiny, but birders hope to see more displaying birds this May and June.<\/p>\n

Cattle egrets look their best in breeding season, with long \u2018nuptial plumes\u2019 on their heads and backs and peachy tones in their snowy plumage. As their name suggests, they frequent herds of cows, feeding on insects and worms disturbed by the cattle.<\/p>\n

Hairy dragonfly (Brachytron pratense<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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A hairy dragonfly. \u00a9 Oliver Smart<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

May sees the first dragonflies patrolling weedy ditches and pools. They\u2019re usually hairy dragonflies, which fly early in the year and are the smallest hawker dragonflies in the UK. To tell them apart from other species, you\u2019ll need a clear view of a perched dragonfly to make out the hirsute thorax (it\u2019s hard to see when it\u2019s flying). Hairy dragonflies are found mostly in the south \u2013 the Somerset Levels and Norfolk Broads are hotspots.<\/p>\n

No-mow roads<\/h3>\n
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A roadside verge covered in spring flowers in Cornwall, England, UK. \u00a9 David Chapman<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

There is a growing interest in the value of our road network for nature, which may sound a contradiction in terms. But for a few heady months in spring and early summer, road verges burst into bloom. At least, properly managed ones do. Their potential is obvious. Verge-loving wildflowers out in May include cow parsley, red campion, bird\u2019s-foot trefoil, meadow buttercup, cowslip and clover. Then there are the wild grasses, on which many moth and butterfly caterpillars feed.<\/p>\n

A recent study at the University of Exeter estimated that road verges in England, Wales and Scotland represent just over 2,500km2\nof grassland habitat. Plantlife, meanwhile, says that verges contain 80 per cent more grassland than the open countryside, most of which is farmed (much of it intensively).<\/p>\n

The statistics are impressive \u2013 and councils are at last starting to take notice, with more developing wildflower-friendly late-mowing regimes, cutting only the kerbside portion before September. Picking up the cuttings is also key \u2013 leaving them boosts soil fertility so that vigorous species proliferate, swamping others.<\/p>\n

Common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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A common redstart with invertebrate prey. \u00a9 Laurie Campbell<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

May is an excellent time to seek out redstarts, among the most beautiful of our summer migrants. They are mainly birds of old oak woods, especially in the north and west, but can also be seen in hill country with scattered trees.<\/p>\n

On upland farms, they often feed along dry-stone walls, dropping to the ground to catch flies on sheep dung. In his book English Pastoral<\/em>, the farmer-author James Rebanks delights in their \u201clittle red tails\u2026 flitting along by the sheep from one thorn tree to the next. Their tails flash with each wing beat, little triangular wedges of freshly cut mahogany.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the feature for which the birds are named, \u2018start\u2019 being derived from the Old English for \u2018tail\u2019. However, while male redstarts look smart, their song sadly isn\u2019t. It is a simple warble that ends in a flourish \u2013 like a chaffinch to some ears, but less tuneful.<\/p>\n

The scientific name of the common redstart, Phoenicurus phoenicurus<\/em>, is an example of a tautonym<\/a>, where the genus and specific name are the same.<\/p>\n

Lime hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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Lime hawk-moth. \u00a9 David Chapman<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

A real dandy, one of our best-looking moths, the lime hawk-moth launches on warm May evenings. Its distinctive scalloped wings and bold pattern that ranges from green to chestnut are quite a statement, but also make it harder to spot when resting among dappled leaves or against tree trunks during the day.<\/p>\n

Our love of avenues of limes and other trees along our streets brings the lime hawk-moth to the heart of urban areas, and it is common in parks and gardens.<\/p>\n

It is not the lime\u2019s fragrant flowers that attract it \u2013 this moth doesn\u2019t feed at all as an adult \u2013 but its heart-shaped leaves, on which the females lay their eggs. In the absence of lime, the moths will also use elm or London plane \u2013 an ornamental tree, particularly widespread in the capital.<\/p>\n

After some weeks feasting in the canopy, their large, stripy, yellow-and-green offspring, which are topped off with a blue \u2018tail horn\u2019, descend to the ground. The caterpillars can often be spotted on pavements or among vegetation in late summer, as they seek a safe place to pupate. Once they have found a suitable spot in soil or leaf litter they will remain there until May, when they are ready to rise again.<\/p>\n

Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
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Eurasian woodcock. \u00a9 Robin Chittenden<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The \u201clong unwieldy bill of the woodcock\u201d remarked upon by 18th-century naturalist Gilbert White, is in fact the perfect asset for this dumpy wader as it probes woodland soils for invertebrates.<\/p>\n

Their beautiful mottled feathers make woodcock notoriously difficult to spot, but this month males drop the subterfuge and take to the sky on their bizarre \u2018roding\u2019 courtship flights.<\/p>\n

Purposefully patrolling their territory at dusk, a combination of squeaks and grunts adds to their display. Woodcock are present year-round but numbers swell to an estimated 1.5 million every winter, as Russian, Baltic and Scandinavian expats seek a milder climate.<\/p>\n

Learn more about woodcocks and waders:\u00a0<\/h4>\n