Looking back over the month of April, it has been a fairly spectacular time for Butterflies. A great improvement on the past couple of years which were something of a disappointment for sightings of the scarcer species such as Brimstone and Orange Tip and Small Tortoiseshell. They all seem to have had a recovery. Doing especially well are Speckled Woods. Places that have a shaded area required by these butterflies where i have visited have had good numbers to see.
Our nesting birds have had a good month with the fine weather helping them find food and bedding material. As April came to end young Sparrow fledglings could be seen having emerged from the wall mounted boxes.
Now May is with us and the blossom of Hawthorn adorns the hedgerows with its sweet fragrant white flowers. The ‘May’ tree is steeped in mythology and has acquired many folklore names, these include, May, Mayblossom, May Bush, Mayflower, Quick, Thorn, Whitethorn, Haw, Huath, Gazels, Halves, Hagthorn, Ladies’ Meat, Bread and Cheese Tree and Tree of Chastity.
Here is an interesting summary about the tree http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Hawthorn.
Butterfly activity focuses on the Blues this month, Holly Blues continue from April while Common, Adonis, Brown Argus and Small Copper butterflys make their appearance around this time on the flower rich chalk hillsides of our Downland and Meadows.
In garden ponds and larger lakes, Dragonflies and Damselflies have emerged from aquatic larvae and are on the wing this month  looking for mating partners. After mating they will deposit eggs on pondweed to start the cycle over again.
