UK wildlife in May: what to see, and where

Happening in May

• Bitterns booming
  Bitterns boom from the Broads’ reedbeds at dawn. Seeing one is another matter. Bittern
• Puffin season
  Puffins are back on Skomer, bills full of sand eels, with razorbills and guillemots on the cliffs. Puffin, razorbill and guillemot
• Swifts
  Swifts are back from Africa, screaming over the rooftops. Swift
• Dawn chorus day
  The first Sunday in May: up before sunrise to listen. Robin, blackbird, wren, song thrush, chaffinch, blue tit, great tit and dunnock
• Hedgehog week
  Early May: gaps in fences, and no slug pellets. Hedgehog

Moments worth waiting for

What the animals are up to this month, the most seasonal first.

• Caterpillar run Blue tit · day and dawn
  A blue tit arrives at a nest hole with a green caterpillar in its bill, and a chorus of chick calls answers.
• Chicks on the shore Oystercatcher · day
  A tiny, fluffy chick freezes on the pebbles while its parents call from the rocks.
• Feeding the brood Great tit · dawn and day
  A great tit shoots into the nest box with a green caterpillar, and leaves with a white faecal sac.
• Puffins arriving back Puffin · dusk and dawn
  Hundreds of puffins wheel in a great circle above the clifftop before dropping onto the turf.
• Excavating a nest hole Crested tit · dawn and day
  A crested tit clings to a rotten pine stump, pecking out chips of wood and flicking them away to make a nest hole.
• Kids in the bracken Roe deer · dawn and dusk
  A doe steps out of the trees, ears swivelling, one spotted kid tucked in the grass behind her.
• Emerging Norfolk hawker · dawn
  A new dragonfly hangs on a water soldier leaf.
• The male dance Adder · dawn and day
  Two males rear and twist around one another in a slow, silent wrestle, watched by a coiled female.
• Wing-clapping display Short-eared owl · dusk and dawn
  A short-eared owl climbs into the air, claps its wings and dives in an ancient courtship flight.
• Lek display Black grouse · dawn
  The blackcocks fan their lyre tails, lower their wings and bubble, jumping and clashing on the wet grass at first light.
• Cock on the lek Capercaillie · dawn
  A huge black cock stands on a mossy stump at first light, tail fanned, beard bristling, and begins his clicking and popping display.
• Ducklings in a line Mallard · day and dawn
  A mallard leads a line of fluffy ducklings across the canal, one straggler paddling to catch up.
• Piping display Oystercatcher · dawn and day
  Two oystercatchers run side by side, bills pointing down, in a shrill piping duet.
• Fledglings and parents Stonechat · dawn and day
  A male stonechat clings to gorse with food in his bill while fluffy spotted fledglings call from the bush.
• Cubs at play Red fox · dusk and dawn
  Three cubs tumble out of the earth and pounce on each other's tails.
• Male on his rock Red grouse · dawn
  A cock grouse stands on a boulder with red combs swollen, then launches into a low display flight, calling 'go-back go-back'.
• Walking underwater Dipper · dawn and day
  The dipper steps off a rock and vanishes, walking along the riverbed before popping up with a caddis larva.
• Screaming party Swift · dusk
  A gang of swifts sweeps round the rooftops at speed, shrieking, then rockets skywards.
• Sky-dance Marsh harrier · day and dawn
  A male climbs high, folds and tumbles towards the reeds before swooping up again.
• Food pass Marsh harrier · day
  The male carries prey over the nest; the female rises, rolls and takes it mid-air.
• Fawns in the reeds Chinese water deer · dawn and dusk
  A tiny spotted fawn lies frozen in the sedge as its mother feeds nearby.
• Cliff-edge aerobatics Chough · dawn and day
  Two choughs tumble and dive along the cliff edge on the wind, calling as they twist together.
• Courtship dance Smooth newt · dusk and night
  A crested male faces a female and fans his tail, quivering, in the shallows.
• Food pass Peregrine falcon · day
  The male arrives with a kill and the female rolls in the air to take it from his talons.

Where to look

At their best in May, quickest to see first, with the best time of day.

Rare visitors

Not here most of the time, but May is when these can turn up: Hoopoe, European bee-eater, red-footed falcon and glossy ibis.

Moths on the wing

Coming to a garden moth trap in May: Heart and dart, poplar hawk-moth, lime hawk-moth, eyed hawk-moth, buff-tip, peppered moth, ruby tiger, brimstone moth and green carpet. All the moths, and how to trap them kindly.