This month the blackbirds sing after dinner and there is light until 10pm! It’s the month to go outside and witness Shakespeare’s immortal words: “the darling buds of May.” There is much magic in the air: Beltane, The May Queen, Jack-in-the-Green, Morris dancers, all jolly festivities to help us throw off our winter coats and hang up our wellies. The great English woodland opens her door, inviting us to scents of wild garlic, rivulets of bluebells and the flutterings of the Pearl-Bordered Fritillary. Pond plants are fully in bloom and tadpoles are transfiguring into frogs. In the garden, tomatoes can now be grown outside in relative safety from Jack Frost and spread their roots properly.
The great English woodland opens her door to scents of wild garlic and rivulets of bluebells
Some plants, such as courgettes and chillies, may need a more gradual acclimatising, so a cold frame is still recommended. But prepare your strawberries this month with some fresh straw in the beds and you’ll soon be ready for a garden party. On the first Sunday of May there is the unmissable International Dawn Chorus Day, when birdsong is at its loudest in the whole year. People often make a shared commitment to get up before sunrise so they can appreciate the natural spectacle. This year it falls the day after the man-made spectacle of the Coronation, the dawn bringing good auspices for a new King. Fact: ecologists have recently discovered that birds sing for a mate for only 50 per cent of the time – the other 50 per cent is for their pure pleasure and this month is their grand performance. Prepare a tea flask and take the youngsters with you, a rare moment they won’t forget.
Rewilding UK: a baby bison is born
The steppe bison lived in the UK until 6,000 years ago, when hunting led to their extinction. Now a steppe bison calf has been born in the UK as part of an exceptional new rewilding project near Canterbury, Kent. “When the bison took their first steps into the wild just weeks ago, it was hard to imagine that anything could come close to the elation we felt in that moment, but here we are celebrating the arrival of a bison calf,” says Mark Habben, from the Wildwood Trust. “Particularly in the UK, biodiversity levels are exceptionally low. We’re not in a good state and releasing bison as an ecosystem engineer will help reverse that situation,” according to Paul Whitfield, director general of Wildwood Trust. The bison now have 50 hectares of space to roam, but this is set to increase as the project develops over the years.
All aboard the Bicibus
The Bicibus (or Bike bus) trend first started in Barcelona but is growing in popularity and spreading across the world. It’s a scheme that enables children to cycle together safely to school in a bicycle convoy and the reaction from participants has been positive: “She wakes up with joy. I could use it as an excuse every day [just] so she jumps out of bed,” says parent Pablo Xirinacs. Routes are chosen for suitability and there are now fifteen in Barcelona alone. Similar schemes are being created in Scotland and the USA. A route typically begins at 8.30am, Monday to Friday, and is 25 minutes long, with children dropped off at different schools along the way. Road safety is ensured by a police-car escort and parent volunteers.
Take the night train to Europe
Fancy taking a train from London St Pancras and waking up to a morning latte in Berlin? This new opportunity arrives thanks to a pan-European sleeper train being launched this month. Train sleepers are slowly re-emerging as a low-emission, sustainable travel option. “Leave London by Eurostar at 15:04, have a beer in Brussels, a night’s sleep, and you’re in downtown Berlin with a full day ahead of you. It’s time-effective – and saves a hotel bill,” enthuses Mark Smit, founder of the slow-travel site, Man in Seat 61, in an interview on
www.positive.news. I am happy to add that ticket costs are competitive with short-haul flights.
Hydrogen-powered car takes to the road
BMW is launching a pilot range of its new hydrogen-powered car. The iX5 reaches similar speeds to regular petrol cars with a range of 313 miles, and the hydrogen can be refilled in five minutes. Many other car competitors are looking into this new technology – there has been research and development within Nissan, Hyandai and Toyota. “Hydrogen is a versatile energy source that has a key role to play in the energy transition process and, therefore, in climate protection. We should use this potential to also accelerate the transformation of the mobility sector. Hydrogen is the missing piece in the jigsaw when it comes to emission-free mobility,” says Oliver Zipse, chairman of BMW.
Sky Events
There will be a full moon on 5 May at 18.34, named the Bright Moon or the Mother’s Moon. There will be a penumbral lunar eclipse, which means the Moon is partially darkened, but this is best viewed in Eastern Europe, Asia and Australia. The Eta Aquarids arrive on 6 and 7 May. This meteor shower can bring up to 60 meteors per hour at its full peak. The meteors will mostly radiate from the constellation of Aquarius. The planet Mercury can be viewed easily in the morning sky on 29 May: look towards the eastern sky before dawn. Venus will brighten up the night skies this month, four hours after sunset.
May Tides
Spring: 6th-7th and 20th-21st
Neap: 13th-14th and 28th-29th
Andreas Kornevall is a Swedish storyteller, author and ecologist. He is the Director of Operations for the Earth Restoration Service Charity based in the UK
