Garden nature diary for May 2023
Species list 2023 click here
Garden nature blog pages click here
May 1
Pair of collared doves on the garden fence, male displaying.
Single migrating swallow, heading north, flew low over the garden. The first of the year.
May 2
We’ve had a single coal tit visiting the feeding station daily for about a week.
Two ravens in flight from south to north along the valley early dusk period.
May 3
Coal tit again on the feeding station.
May 4
First butterflies of the year, a small blue and an orange-tip, both in the garden itself.
May 5
Another orange-tip sighting.
We get daily visits from a male (only seen one at a time) great spotted woodpecker, so it was great to have a female on the feeding station today.
May 6
Both sexes of great spotted woodpeckerfeeding again today.
Several visits from starlings, as their annual descending on the feeding station gets underway.
They breed in the area and are now taking food away for chicks.
May 7
First small white butterfly in the garden.
First swift of the year, a bird high in flight across the valley. Looked like a migrating bird.
May 10
Muntjac (adult and juvenile) in the lane, visible from our home as I was going to bed.
May 15
First speckled wood butterfly of the year in the garden.
May 16
Numerous daily sightings of small blue butterflies in the garden.
May 19
I was up early (before 6.00 a.m.) and with it being very quiet, a carrion crow was on the lawn below the feeding station.
May 27
There’s been a pair of robins in the garden for a while and it’s great to see their coming together bearing fruit in the form of two juveniles.
They’ve been visiting regularly throughout the day eating beneath the feeding station.
Four swifts overhead.
A pair of wood pigeons are nest-building in a neighbour’s tree.
May 28
Nice to see juvenile starlings in the garden, as well as adults.
Three perched on the feeding station first thing in the morning.
May 30
The juvenile robins are regulars in the garden, while tidying up around the pots on the patio one came within inches of me.
I fetched some maggots from the fridge (fishing) and fed it.
May 31
Juvenile starlings feeding in the garden. A family group arrived and while most left after a few minutes, two young birds stayed much longer.