The ancient English proverb "Ne'er cast a clout, till May be out" can be interpreted in several ways. One meaning is 'don't change out of your winter clothes until June, as there can often be a cold spell of weather in May'. Another, which somewhat contradicts the above, makes reference to 'May' as the common name of the hawthorn bush, whose blossom in the month of May indicates the arrival of summer, or warmer weather.
Certainly in Cumbria in 2015 it has definitely been a case of not putting your winter clothes away. The daytime temperature has struggled to rise above 13 or 14°C. Yesterday's severe weather warnings across the county proved to be accurate, with howling gales and lashing rain, making it feel more like November than the first day of June! Despite this, Mother Nature has been busy putting on a show in the form of early flowering clematis, native wild flowers and the beautiful but all too brief apple and cherry blossom.
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| Ornamental Cherry |
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| Clematis Montana |
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| Crab Apple blossom |
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| Crab Apple blossom |
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| Red Clover & Purple Vetch |
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| Gorse |
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| Bird's Foot Trefoil |
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| Bugle |
In spite of the unseasonal weather, the month of May has brought a flurry of activity to the garden in the form of fledgling birds of all kinds. A very vocal family of Great Tits have been making themselves at home in the Willow tree. The fledglings have been running their exhausted parents ragged with their constant demands for food.
News about the live mealworms I'd been putting out for the Great Tits soon spread through the grapevine, it would seem. Before too long birds of every kind were waiting for me each morning.
A pair of Robins and their offspring...
A Dunnock with its newly fledged chick...
A huge family of chirpy sparrows...
A gorgeous family of my favourite bird, the Long Tailed Tit...
Mr & Mrs Blackbird scooping up as many mealworms at one time as they possibly can, for their chicks waiting in the nest behind my garden fence...
So all in all it has been a very poor May weather-wise, but a very busy and rewarding May in every other way. Hopefully tonight's moon is a sign that better weather is on the way!
Thanks for visiting my blog, I hope you've enjoyed the photos.
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