A month of light frequent rain and sunny spells, ‘...for April showers brings forth May flowers’. If March is the month of promise and May fulfilment, April seems to stand nervously between them, annoying those impatient for summer. It is the season of woodland flowers, which take the opportunity to display their wares to passing insects, before the canopy finally closes above them. Primroses form yolk-yellow clumps in woodland glades and on hedgerow banks, whilst bluebells turn ancient woodland floors into a fragrant violet-blue sea. As April grows with confidence, lines of callow green blackthorn and hawthorn line up, showing the way to summer with a procession of creamy-white bloom. 

This spring saw a dry tail-end to march, which continued into April. After a rather dull winter, we finally felt glorious sunshine on our cheeks, with the thermometer reaching a high of twenty-one degrees in Norfolk. The first ‘drip-drop-drip little April showers’ wasn’t until the fourteenth, although it was more like a ‘sodden-soaking-downpour’. But a welcome sight, nonetheless, as my garden ponds were looking worryingly low so early in the season. The warm sunshine at the start of the month brought willow warblers and blackcaps in early, with many of them quickly joining the building dawn chorus; a month to practice and prepare for its magnificent crescendo in May. The now regular osprey pair at Ranworth Broad were prompt in their arrival too, with the male arriving on the fourth, followed by confirmed sightings of the female on the eighth. This, it is hoped, will be their breeding year. It is now over 70 years since the return of breeding osprey to Loch Garten. Seen as a major turning point in the recovery of our birds of prey, it stands as a sobering reminder that nature recovery can be painfully slow and stretched over a generation. The Ancient Greek proverb: ‘a society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit’ stands as the motto and mantra for all wildlife conservationists. The long-term recuperation of our birds of prey gives us hope, and a measure of just how successful far-sighted conservation projects can be.  

On the fourteenth, a juvenile sea eagle was at Holme Dunes. The warden, Gary Hibberd, managed to photograph it being mobbed by several red kite. When sea eagles were being re-introduced to the Western Isles of Scotland, and red kites were being released in the Cotswolds, even the heartiest optimist would have struggled to predict such a scene in north Norfolk. Another county success story is our increasing bittern population. April to May is a good time to hear their booming call or, if you are lucky, possibly even see one, as several have been quite obliging, particularly in front of the aptly named Bittern Hide. At least eight individuals have been heard booming across the reedbeds of Hickling Broad and Marshes, an impressive number even for this premier location. The fine weather has seen many spring flowers appearing early, cuckooflower – or lady’s smock if you prefer – is my favourite, and already their subtle little flowers are appearing around the wet hollows of damp meadows. Patches of flowering marsh marigold can be seen from the boardwalk to Ranworth Broad Visitors’ Centre, and early marsh orchids will be joining them soon. The reserve’s decades old tussock sedges are impressive in their timeworn age. Now visible, they will soon be cloaked by tall, tightly packed reed stems.                            

Returning to Ancient Greece, I suspect many of you have noticed along the highways and byways of Norfolk a large umbellifer that has sudden appeared everywhere having, it seems, replaced its’ smaller cousin the cow parsley. The plant is Alexanders and its strange name relates to its Macedonian heritage, the former kingdom of Alexander the Great. It has been naturalised in the UK for two thousand years, having arrived from the Mediterranean with the Romans. Being troubled by frozen ground and susceptible to spring frosts, our recent spate of mild winters and warm early springs has given it the edge it needs, and it is now thriving. It has, apparently, many medicinal uses and the stems, unsurprisingly, taste of celery.  

What to look for in May 

May is the month of bountiful colour and wonderful fragrance. It is also the month of the dawn chorus, with reedbeds, woods and heaths coming alive with birdsong. The canopy of ancient woodlands covers over, shading the ground below, so it is the turn of meadows and verges to provide an array of flowers, particularly the whites and yellows of ox-eyed daisy, buttercups and cow parsley; their gentle sway is accompanied by the hum of countless insects. This is the month to make a point of listening for cuckoo. Their familiar and constant name calling, at one time, could be heard in every corner of the countryside. Sadly, they have declined in number and are now rarely heard away from their stronghold of the county’s wetlands and heaths. 

Take Action 

Why not treat yourself, and maybe a friend or partner who needs an introduction to nature, to an early morning walk. The hour before dawn is a truly magical time, and in May the outpouring of birdsong during a dawn chorus can’t fail to lift any spirit. The dawn chorus is a wonderful way of presenting someone new to the delights of the natural world. One need not travel far, even in the centre of Norwich a local churchyard, park or garden will have a blackbird, robin and wren. These are some of our greatest songsters, and May finds them in full and vibrant voice.