Hunting for magnificent May's wildlife treasures

May is the best month of the year for wildlife (in my opinion!) and there is so much to see, including plenty of really special species, so I thought I'd whet your appetite with some snapshots I took on my phone of some of the treasures I tracked down over the weekend. We've been getting some great photos from Nature's Home magazine readers from the spring, including a hoopoe discovered by one lucky reader at the holiday home they were staying in, so I thought I'd join in myself, inspired by your shots. 

Duke of Burgundy may be small but it defends its territory fiercely (image cMark Ward)

Butterfly diversity is increasing by the day and this little beauty is a localised species that appears to be having a very good year thanks to the warm May weather. It's the Duke of Burgundy and at one site I visited, there were more than 50 of them among plenty of dingy skippers, grizzled skippers, green hairstreaks and plenty of other species enjoying the unbroken warm, dry weather in the south at the moment.

"Dukes" are equally good-looking when viewed from above (image c Mark Ward)

Short chalk grassland and south-facing slopes are excellent for butterflies at this time of year so head for your local hills to see what you can find and if you fancy doing more for butterflies in your garden then check out our website for some top tips. 

Orchid season is well and truly underway and fly orchids are out now - I found 68 spikes of this little beauty in a small area.

No need to explain how the fly orchid got its name (image cMark Ward)

Burnt orchids combine purple and pink in glorious harmony (image cMark Ward)

Burnt orchid is a beautiful little orchid found on short turf in a few locations which are fortunately protected.

Another rather fetching colour combo against the fresh spring grass is the purple and yellow of pasque flowers (image cMark Ward)

Pasque flowers, found at only a few sites in the UK, usually peak in April, but there were still plenty of fresh flowers around.

What gems can you find?
I hope you enjoyed this little photo-led preview into some of the treasures to be found over the next few weeks, The sun is supposed to shine for another week across most of the UK, so enjoy and see what you can find and don't forget to check back on the Wildabout section of Nature's Home April edition which is full of ideas and species to see for May and June, so get planning.