May in the Valley

What you can expect to see...

We’ve had one of the driest starts to spring on record with hardly any rain during March and April and unseasonally high temperatures. This has caused an earlier spring with most of the trees, shrubs and plants coming into leaf or bloom several weeks early. The Bluebells for example were all over by the time May arrived and the Oak trees are all in full leaf, whereas they would normally just be beginning to show. Whether this has an adverse affect on the wildlife remains to be seen.

Spring is now already well advance and May will continue to be a busy month with wildlife activity everywhere. Even if you spent all day every day this month outdoors you would still miss something as there is so much going on. This month the dawn chorus reaches its peak, fledglings are testing their flight feathers, insects are on the move, the ponds and lakes are coming alive and flowers are bursting into bloom. May is really a magical month and will pass too quickly, so make the most of it! If yo haven’t done so already, get out into the Valley and let us know exactly what you see.

You can’t help but see the frothy white umbels of Cow Parsley lining the road verges and pathways and the mass of Hawthorn blossom (pictured right) lining the many hedgerows. In addition this month start looking out for orchids, these exquisite yet elusive plants should come into flower over the next few weeks attracting all sorts of insects. Pyramidal, Bee, Common Spotted and Green Winged are just some of the varieties found in the Valley. If you spot any please email us with details for the wildlife sightings page.

Keep an eye out for Swallows our Bird of the Month (pictured right), Swifts and Martins that continue to arrive from Africa in large and often mixed flocks. They can be seen over the lakes, feeding on insects, refueling for the next stage of their journey north.

Native ducks and geese are among the first to breed and their young are easily watched on the river and lakes. We’ve already seen Mallards and Egyptian Geese seen with their young. Have you seen any others?

Woodland rides and glades act as sun traps and with the temperatures rising they are good places to watch many of the butterflies that are flying now. Look for Small Coppers, Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells and Orange Tips, our
Butterfly of the Month.

Increasing numbers of flying insects provide a feast for bats. Watch Water Bats - also known as Daubenton’s -  feed on mayflies, skimming the surface of the Valleys’ many lakes and ponds at dusk and after dark. Lakeside Park is well worth a visit.

Have you seen anything interesting, unusual or something that captured your imagination in the Valley this month? Whatever it was please send us details so that we can put it on our  sightings page. We also would love to receive your pictures. This month’s sightings >>>                      

   Butterfly of Month:
   Orange Tip

   Bird of Month:
   Swallow >>>  

   May sightings  >>>

    May events >>>
 

Did you know...?

Have you ever wondered
why certain plant species
bear the name dog – Dog Violet, Dog Rose and Dog’s Mercury are all examples? 

Go back in history and you’ll
find that country folk used
the description ‘dog’ as a derogatory terms for wild flowers and plants that were inferior to  their relatives and therefore only ‘fit for dogs’.
 

Dog Violet, for example,
was scentless compared to the earlier flowering and scented Sweet Violet.

Dog’s Mercury is the
‘useless’ relative of Annual Mercury, which was used in folk medicine (although both are dangerous).

Dogwood is a shrub which bears berries that are not
fit to eat.
 

Exactly why the rose of the English hedgerow, which was adopted as his emblem by Henry VII and became the Tudor Rose and a symbol of the British monarchy,
came to be known as a Dog Rose is a bit of a mystery.
 

One theory goes back to the ancient Greeks who called the wild rose ‘Dog Rose’ because they believed the roots could cure a man bitten by a mad dog. The Romans then adopted the name Rosa canina, which translated into English as Dog Rose.