It's such a busy time of year in nature and in our gardens. The grass is growing fast, especially after all the recent rain, and it is tempting to cut it back to keep our gardens tidy. However it is not just the grass which is growing - amongst it are countless wildflowers, providing a vital food source for our pollinators. This is why the charity Plantlife is urging us to keep the mowers in the shed for the month of May in its No Mow May campaign. According to Plantlife, we’ve lost nearly 97% of flower rich meadows since the 1970s, depriving the UK's bees, butterflies and other pollinators of so much.
The 10 most common plants recorded during the No Mow May campaign in 2022 were daisies, creeping buttercup, yellow rattle, common bird’s-foot trefoil, field forget-me-not, meadow buttercup, white clover, common mouse-ear, oxeye daisy and dandelion. Let's take the common bird's foot trefoil as an example. As well as providing a source of nectar for bees, it's an important foodplant for the caterpillars of the common blue, silver-studded blue and wood white butterflies; the latter two species are both classified as Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework.
Even the humble dandelion, traditionally unloved by gardeners, can play a vital role in helping wildlife. The dandelion’s peak flowering time is from late March to May, when many bees and other pollinators emerge from hibernation. Each flower consists of up to 100 florets, each one packed with nectar and pollen. This early, easily available source of food is a lifesaver for pollinators in spring. Bumblebees, solitary bees and honeybees all visit dandelions for food, along with hoverflies, beetles, and butterflies such as the peacock and holly blue. As time goes on, goldfinches and house sparrows eat the dandelion seed. Studies have found that by letting the dandelions grow amongst our grass, we can support over 100 different species. It's great to think that we can benefit so much wildlife this May simply by doing nothing!
Daisies Bellis perennis and a Dandelion Taraxacum officinalis, flowering in an unmown garden lawn in May
Nick Upton (rspb-images.com)
It's also a very busy time for the birds in and around our gardens. This weekend was International Dawn Chorus Day and these early weeks of May are the perfect time to enjoy nature's symphony. Birds all around are trying to attract a mate, and those precious moments before dawn are the best time for them to do this. Firstly, the dim light means it's not a good time to go foraging. Food, like insects and seeds, may be difficult to find, so it's a much better use of birds' time to try to attract a mate. Singing also brings the risk of attracting a predator, so it is better done before the bright morning light betrays the singer's position. As the light strengthens food becomes easier to find, so hungry birds begin to move off and the chorus gradually diminishes. You'll need to get up early to catch the first chorus as the first birds begin to sing about an hour before sunrise. Among the earliest to rise are skylarks, song thrushes, robins and blackbirds. A more relaxed approach is taken by wrens and warblers, who typically appear later. These smaller birds, who are perhaps more sensitive to the coldness of dawn, feed on insects that themselves appear later in the morning.
So it's a great time to get out in your garden or local park and enjoy all that May has to bring, from the first tunes of the blackbird in the early hours, to the gentle buzzing of the pollinators feasting on the wildflowers left in No Mow May! Our own garden at Flatford has many areas of long grass and wildflowers. And the blue tit chicks in the nest box have recently hatched and can be seen on our live nest cam - busy times indeed!