May May May..!

“…May May May! May May booty! May May booty!”

I have absolutely no explanation for the title and tagline this time. The headline is usually whatever pops into my head as I write or plan a post. So this is what it dished out this time!

So, I’m a little late writing this and, as we’re all being catapulted towards summer now, it sometimes feels a bit hard to keep up. It’s the first time in three years that we’ve been able to go out at this time of year and do things unrestricted so the cats have been in the cattery a bit more than normal (sorry cats!) and I’ve been off gallivanting!

But it’s still important to take time to reflect so here’s my May post. The month brought a wonderful holiday with loads of wildlife, some walks in the sunshine – although sunny days really have been few and far between! – and a lot of growth in the garden. Hope you enjoy! 😊

Island wonders

The main highlight of the month was my trip to the Isle of Mull. I’ve written about this in more detail separately, but, to summarise, it brought the isolation and wild landscape that I needed. A week of no TV, wifi or mobile signal inside the cottage provided the perfect opportunity to walk, read and write.

I even kept a journal during the week. This is something I always have the ambition to do while I’m away but never quite manage to keep it up. I have countless unfinished journals on my bookshelf and half-written notes on my phone. But, this time, I had a complete overview (mainly written on a picnic table outside the cottage next to a cider on the sunny evenings we were occasionally blessed with).

And I learnt a lesson while I was there. As our boat trip to the Treshnish Islands was cancelled, we lost an opportunity to see some new seabirds (puffins, razorbills, manx shearwaters, etc) and some of the ocean’s wonders. Though I was disappointed about this, I reflected on it in my journal and had a bit of an epiphany:

“There’s no point in just seeing birds to tick them off a list – it’s also about the quality of the interaction and the appreciation of what you’ve seen that counts. For me, so far, it’s the gannets feeding when we were on the ferry, the cuckoo in the scrub, the snipe flying around and the encounters with the mistle thrush that stand out.“

Wildlife spots

There’s a hare!

Way before my holiday, I had a much more local encounter with a brown hare. I was off on a walk from Moreton-in-Marsh to Sezincote. For anyone familiar with the area, you’ll know that Moreton’s nearby arboretum is a real honeypot for locals and tourists alike and my walk started with the crowds. I wondered for a while why on earth I was being followed by tens of people on my trek out of the town. And then it hit me – Batsford Arboretum.

Lo and behold, once I turned off the well-trodden path to the arboretum, I lost the crowds. In fact I hardly encountered anyone at all for the majority of the walk. On such a sunny day, I took my time, had a little picnic and enjoyed the 7-mile wander.

Towards the very end, I spotted something in a field. I’d just gone a bit wrong on the trail and was a teeny bit lost. This was about 5.5 miles into the walk so I was flagging a little bit but I stopped and had a look at what it was. The first thing I noticed were two very large brown ears. It was a hare!

No Mow May

Did anyone else do No Mow May? I am absolutely astonished by the growth in the garden. I’m guessing it’s because of the countless muggy days, occasional sunny spells and unexpected downpours!

Before setting off to Mull in mid-May, the grass had grown to a height I’d seen before – pretty tall but mowable if I had to. The wild onion’s white flowers were blooming and there was a scattering of dandelions across the lawn. It looked very pretty.

When we returned, the garden was a wildlife paradise. The grass was so tall and all sorts of plants had grown through: Spanish bluebells, geraniums, early dog violet. I found myself apologising to my partner, neighbours, family. Had I let them all down?! But then it occurred to me – no, I hadn’t let them down. It’s a garden after all and since taking part in No Mow May, I’ve seen more bees, butterflies and birds!

Barn owl beauty

And, finally, I have to tell you about our local barn owl. Full of holiday blues, I headed to my favourite place in Shipston one morning towards the end of the month. It’s just the local ‘meadow’ (more a “field of wheat”, really) and it was before work. I wasn’t really looking forward to the day ahead so I knew the walk would help.

I passed a couple of people on the track walking their dogs, but I was a little distracted by something in the distance behind them – a white shape floating around on large wings in the field beyond. A barn owl? Or was it a little egret? I didn’t see it very well until I got to its field – it was the former!

I watched it as it swept low over the ground, high above the fence posts and then hovered up and down over a potential catch. I’ve never had such a view before. And I didn’t just see it once, I saw it again at a similar time 3 days later and then saw it in the evening. From my bird book, I’d bet that it has a nest with some hungry chicks nearby – it explains the almost-daytime hunting!

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I hope you had a good May – here’s my full wild list