Birding in May — UK guide for spring migration peak

If you only birded one month a year, make it May. Everything has either just arrived or is on territory and singing.

What's around in May

Just arrived from Africa

By the first week of May, the long-distance migrants are home. Look (and listen) for:

• Swifts — back over rooftops from late April. Screaming parties peak in May; book your "swift watch" evening now.
• Cuckoos — calling males arrive from mid-April through early May. Reliable in reedbeds (Norfolk, Somerset Levels), heathland (New Forest, Surrey heaths), and the southern uplands.
• Hobbies — small, scimitar-winged falcons. Scan over wetlands and gravel pits; they hunt dragonflies and hirundines on the wing.
• Spotted Flycatchers — the latest of the latests. Don't expect them until mid-May. Old churchyards, mature gardens, and woodland edges.
• Turtle Doves — sadly increasingly rare. East Anglia and the Thames Estuary remain the strongholds. Listen for the soft "turr turr" purr.

Warblers — peak diversity

The main warbler arrivals are early-to-mid May. In a good day's birding in southern Britain you can connect with all of these:

• Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler — widespread.
• Wood Warbler — west-side oakwoods (Wales, Lake District). Trembling, accelerating song.
• Pied Flycatcher — same habitat as Wood Warbler. Use a nestbox-rich reserve like RSPB Coombes Valley or Carngafallt.
• Grasshopper Warbler — reeling, almost insect-like song from rough grassland and young plantation. Easy to walk past.
• Cetti's Warbler — explosive burst of song from reedbeds. Resident now but vocal in May.

Coastal and wader passage

Don't ignore the coast in May. Spring wader passage is brief but quality — many birds in full breeding plumage, often the only chance to see them looking like the field guide pictures:

• Whimbrel — small numbers along all coasts, often pausing on saltmarsh. Listen for the seven-note whistle.
• Sanderling, Dunlin, Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit in their best plumage.
• Little Tern — back at colonies. Endangered breeders; respect the cordons.
• Manx Shearwater — passage off western coasts; pelagic trips out of Pembrokeshire start running.

Garden specials

Even if you can't get out: in May your garden should be hosting nest-builders, family parties, and the occasional fly-over migrant. Expect Chaffinch males in full song, Blackbird dawn-chorus stars, Blue Tits and Great Tits ferrying caterpillars to nestboxes, Robins with juveniles in tow.

Where to go in May

Three habitat types rule May:

1. Reedbeds

For the sedge/reed warbler/cuckoo trifecta plus marsh harriers and bitterns. Top sites: RSPB Leighton Moss, RSPB Minsmere, RSPB Titchwell, RSPB Ham Wall.

2. Western oakwoods

For wood warbler, pied flycatcher, redstart, dipper, occasional firecrest. Try Lake District oak valleys (Borrowdale, Glenridding), Carngafallt in mid-Wales, or anywhere along the Wye Valley.

3. Heathland

For nightjar (after dusk), Dartford warbler, woodlark, hobby, cuckoo, tree pipit. RSPB Arne in Dorset is the classic; the New Forest and Surrey heaths (Thursley, Hothfield) also deliver.

Tips for May birding

• Be there at dawn. Birdsong intensity peaks 30 mins before sunrise to about 2 hrs after. The same wood at 11am is a different (much quieter) place.
• Learn one song a week. By August you'll know 16 species by ear that you couldn't pick out in March. Use a sound app — even xeno-canto is free.
• Don't disturb breeding birds. If a parent is alarm-calling at you, you're too close. Back off, stay quiet, take photos from distance.
• Watch the wind. Coastal migration is governed by it — east winds bring continental drift migrants to the east coast; settled high pressure means clean coast and inland passage.