Cuckoos, swallows and bluebells

The month of May on the island is when the wildlife and flora seem to spring back into life after a long, cold winter.

You can almost feel the limbs of the earth stretch and unfurl, like a frond of bracken curling open from it’s tightly coiled fiddlehead.

The trees are suddenly green and frothy with new, vibrant growth and blossom. The hawthorn, rowan and blackthorn trees are a mass of creamy white flowers that shower the grass with every breeze.

The cuckoos are everywhere, their distinctive, insistent call the background soundtrack to the long, light-filled days of May.

The swallows return. Just in time to feast on the awakening midges. They’re a delight to watch, wheeling and swooping around the house with incredible speed and skill. Such elegant, acrobatic birds, their high keening calls piecing the skies as they dart and dance through the air.

And anything that eats midges gets my vote of thanks.

The wild garlic and bluebells have been stunning this year, carpeting the hillsides thickly in nodding flowers. They’re coming to an end now, their vibrancy fading, and we’re left with fields of yellow from the creeping buttercups.

May is a beautiful month on the croft.