What to look for in May161

May is for many the most glorious month in the British countryside. Majestic oak trees are now in full leaf, the hawthorn is a riot of blossom (inspiring the "darling buds of May" of Shakespeare's sonnet), and cow parsley flowers in hedgerows and meadows. Many butterflies and dragonflies are on the wing, mayflies live their brief day of adult life and the maybug or cockchafer is also on the wing at dusk. This year the bluebells have been spectacular in May after a very cool April held them back. Birds - including the nightingale - are in full song, displaying and feeding young. Wood warblers and pied flycatchers can be seen in upland oakwoods, waders and grouse are breeding on moorlands, and seabird colonies are at their busiest, with huge numbers of terns, gulls, gannets and auks flying to and from their nests. Roe deer fawns are born during this month, while foxes are feeding their cubs on the healthy populations of young rabbits. Dolphins may be seen frolicking in the surf of the Moray Firth and Cardigan Bay, while cuttlefish lay their eggs in the warm waters along the English Channel.