What to look for in MAY
At the
Beach Reserve the flowers of coastal shingle specialities provide a rich
display of colour. Late in the
month a profusion of white Sea Kale
flowers will add to the blue of Viper’s
Bugloss, mauve mats of Ivy-leaved
Toadflax and the yellow flowers of Yellow-horned
Poppy. Others to look for
include Herb Robert and Sea Pea. The mauve flowers of Salsify
can be seen near Lime Kiln Cottage, but only in the morning before they
close up. On the grassland of the shingle ridges around Camber Castle Common Storksbill and Dovesfoot Cranesbill will be flowering
and others, such as Sand Spurrey and Shepherd's Cress,
flower before the soil dries out.
This
is the best time to see a great variety of bird species, with many wandering
individuals and late arriving species like Spotted
Flycatcher and Swift. Waders normally pass through in good
numbers, including hundreds of Whimbrel
at the start of the month. It’s
also a good month for many of our scarcer migrants such as Black Tern and Marsh Harrier. Some birds such as Coots, Mallards and Little
Grebes will already have young and Blackbirds
will be caring for their second brood.
Others such as the rare Little
Tern will not start to lay their eggs until mid month. They nest on bare shingle, along with Ringed Plovers and Oystercatchers, relying on camouflage to prevent predators
discovering their eggs, so please take care not to disturb their nests when
walking near shingle areas. The
islands of Ternery Pool may be alive with the activities of nesting Black-headed Gulls, Common Terns and
sometimes Sandwich Terns.
During warm days the first dragon- and damselflies will be
flying such as Hairy Dragonfly and Variable Damselfly and there is an
increase in the number and variety
of butterflies, including Common Blue
and Wall and day flying moths, such
as Silver Y, Cinnabar and Burnet moths.
