Murky myths of May

In recent years, May in Orkney has been characterised by cold and unsettled weather, despite it being traditionally our driest month. Thankfully, in 2020, we had a warm, sunny time of it, all the better to survive lockdown. This year is running true to form, a stuttering Spring, reluctant to let go of Winter, with no enthusiasm for rushing pell-mell into Summer.

Sigh.

At the beginning of the month, a walk around the bay revealed that, against the odds, a mole had seemingly tunnelled under the Pentland Firth and made landfall (landthrust?) in Orphir. However, closer inspection revealed that it was actually a black rabbit playing a game of "You can't see me!"

Badly.

As we had experienced in England in April, migrant birds were on the move, and this Common Whitethroat put in an appearance in the garden for a couple of days.

As well as this supposedly being the driest month, another Orcadian myth has it that Arctic Terns don't appear from their oceanic wanderings until the fogs of early May. I can only assume that this is a conflation of two facts. It's usually foggy in the first week of the month, and Arctic Terns return to breed at this time. However, undeniably, I can report that it was very foggy, and the terns did come back.

During the week of low visibility, I happened to be working at an airfield on an outer island. I was installing a 4G antenna and had carefully planned my visit between morning and afternoon flights so as not to interfere with the smooth running of their service. As it happened, I think the morning flight was cancelled anyway, so there I was happily working away on my lonesome in happy contemplation of an undisturbed day, when an emergency elsewhere necessitated the appearance of the Coastguard helicopter from Sumburgh in Shetland. Whilst ambulance, airfield and coastguard staff prepared to transfer the casualty to the helicopter, the fog became so thick that wisps of it were visible between individual people. Fortunately, the aircraft was able to take off without any bother.

When the sun did occasionally deign to show up, the garden was a-buzz with insects. Not  many butterflies yet, a few bumblebees and this wasp, a Red Wasp, I think, feeding on some Cotoneaster. Mid month came and went without any reports of damselflies on the wing, and for once, I can't say I blame them. Fingers crossed for warmer weather soon.

 

 

Looking out of the kitchen window the other day, I was astonished to see a large purple-eyed creature in our neighbour's garden. I might have to create a May Myth of my own.