Sunday, May 1, 2016

Nature Happenings - May 2016

May 2016

May 5

Common blue violets, actually purple in color with heart-shaped leaves, are blooming in woodlands and wet meadows, and are often ubiquitous in neighborhood lawns. 

May 6 

Baltimore oriole © Kristin Foresto, Mass Audubon
New moon and height of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower. In the northern hemisphere, roughly 30 shooting stars per hour, most prominent after midnight, grace the dark moonless sky.

May 8 

Brilliantly colored scarlet tanagers, Baltimore orioles, and rose-breasted grosbeaks arrive from southerly climes. Look and listen for flashy males high above in spring-green treetops.

May 15 

Spring azures are abundant now—keep an eye out for the strikingly blue butterflies at woodland edges and in forest clearings.

May 21 

Full moon. The Bright Moon (Celtic).

May 22 

The red planet Mars is its brightest for this calendar year—fully illuminated by the sun and visible all night long.

May 24 


At nightfall watch for flickering fireflies in fields and grassy areas. Each species has its own pattern of flashes.

Excerpt taken from Mass Audubon's Outdoor Almanac.