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Sunrise over a the east Norfolk coast
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A month burgeoning with growth and vitality.
Summer felt very close at hand with above-average temperatures brightening some days, but grey clouds and rain were never far away. Plenty was observed and done in the garden. Swifts returned, but not yet in their usual numbers: these were down last year also.
House Martins and Swallows brightened the coast, white bellies against an unfamiliar blue sky as sunshine opened the month. Rain and mizzle returned on the third, droplets collecting in the perched toes of a swallow.
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| Mizzle |
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Swallows in the rain
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Damp Magpie, dull day
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The dull dampness of May was punctuated with some startlingly-bright and warm days.
Butterflies, moths, bees, wasps and hoverflies were a welcome but infrequent presence in the garden.
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Cinnabar moth, garden
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On a day of perfect conditions (light mist then clear sunlight), I walked very early at the broads.
The dawn chorus featured a marshland remix with a deep-booming Bittern, Cuckoo and Common Crane accompaniment.
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| Dawn |
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Sunrise over the east Norfolk coast
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Swans in the morning mist
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Sun rising over the broad
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| Muntjac |
Ahead of the human world dominating the day, I enjoyed the company of cranes flying over, with a grounded pair calling their possession of a patch of reeds whenever crane or goose crossed above.
A Lapwing displayed over a field, the woodland path, my head!
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Nine Cranes, three Lapwings
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The "boombox bird" sang from most reedbeds and sometimes perched up in a tree, Sedge Warblers returned from Africa and also their somewhat more sedate cousins, Reed Warblers.
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Sedge warbler
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Greylag Geese and goslings
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Fragrant Wisteria bloomed, and Roses and Irises too in my gardens.
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Breathing in the jasmine scent. Wisteria, Norwich
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Wisteria, garden
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Lime Hawk-moth, garden
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Starlings fledged, the juveniles' screeching a welcome sound of late spring.
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Juvenile Starling
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The Cuckoo first heard 5th May, first seen 11th.
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| Cuckoo |
The Nightingale is sorely-absent from most of his old Norfolk haunts.
A short road trip brought me the joy of his song and presence.
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| Nightingale |
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More about again. Rabbit, garden
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Roadside Tomato plants
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Off for a wander
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River Yare
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Cows and calves on the marshes
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Damp and muggy
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Great-white Egret
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North sea
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Return inland
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The welcome purr of a Turtle Dove greeted me at a coastal heath, if only briefly.
Yellowhammers, Chiffchaffs and Linnets sang, but not an elusive Golden Oriole.
A bi-plane flew over, and a summer crooner blared from the coast.
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Coastal heath
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Buzzard |
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Woodland path
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The daintier spring flowers gave way to the more voluminous presence of summer flowers.
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Foxglove, cobwebs
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Bright days made gardening most attractive.
Vegetables and herbs were potted up and on, this years trees also. Many roadsides offered tomato plants. I supplemented my own with some new varieties. With strawberries coming into season, I enjoyed the first Pimms of this year.
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First Pimms of the season
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Guelder Rose flowers, garden
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Guelder Rose and Elderflowers bloomed. By the end of the month, many of their pretty flowers would speckle the ground. Acorn nubs were spotted on one of my oak trees. So soon it will be the time of fruits and nuts; the year is galloping away.
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The lawn mower
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Bedford Street, Norwich
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25th
Rain set in all day. A picnic was eaten under the shelter of a favourite cherry tree, with raindrops in my flask coffee and soaking into my tuna-and-cucumber sandwich. All things were drawn earthward: gulls, pied wagtail and its two grey young, a pale buzzard, umbellifers bowed with droplets.
Blackbirds and Robins sang whilst rain pattered upon glossy-green nettles.
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Beware cattle
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A sight rarer than it used to be: Friesian cattle
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Pale Buzzard
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Belted Galloway
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The view from where I sit
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Sun, showers and humidity made for some damp, muggy walks.
No Swallowtails seen yet.
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Sun spilled out
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Another day, another cloudburst.
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Water meadow
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Meadow scuffle
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Elderflower confetti
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Jewel -- Banded Demoiselle
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Swans and cygnets
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The front garden Linnets moved on, having fledged a youngster. A Goldfinch pair claimed the vacant spot, whilst a female Blackbird was also seen taking either material or food into the wisteria.
The Starlings moved on with their noisy juveniles, but the cheeping of newly-fledged Blue Tits filled the garden's hungry-offspring void.
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Blue Tit fledgling at the big pool...
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...Blue Tit fledglings in the little pool
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The month ended on a dull, wet and windy note. The wind whined in night-time windows as if it were winter.
Hope remains for brighter days ahead.
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Damp Blackbird fledgling
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