Bluebell time

May has been a glorious month here in this Dartmoor valley - Cuckoos calling day in, day out, Snipe calling from the bogs, two nesting pairs of pied flycatchers.  The other day I saw a Honey Buzzard passing over.  Now the bluebells are here in force, and summer is just around the corner.  The best time to be out and about looking for wildlife on Dartmoor.  Come and join us!

Gorse and blackthorn

Milkmaid (cuckoo flower) and hoverfly

Apple blossom (with spider)

The start of a pied flycatcher clutch (there are now seven eggs in this nest!)

It's been a bluebell extravaganza

Hawthorn blossom

Mating small heath butterflies

April flowers bring forth showers...

Some spring photos for you from Dartmoor and around.  The blackthorn in particular has been glorious (I love the combination with lichens); but then the wind and rain went and knocked most of it down... temperatures rising now, migrants arriving, and eggs in a blackcap's nest (pictured).  See you soon, hopefully with more nesting news!