The best of the season to inspire and admire
FIELDS OF GOLD
In May, the countryside becomes an intricate patchwork of cultivated farmland; luminous fields of bright yellow emblazoned against lush green pastureland and trees bearing the leaves of late spring. A member of the family Brassicaceae – which is the same as mustard and the humble cabbage – rapeseed, Brassica napus, was first recorded in the UK in the 14th century and by the 19th century was used as a lubricating oil for steam engines. Known as oilseed rape, it became a popular crop from the 1970s. Today, the seeds are harvested and processed for the production of cooking oils, biodiesel and animal feed. In 2000, rapeseed was the third-leading source of vegetable oil in the world, after soybean and palm oil. Its environmental benefits are mixed. While it is often specially planted to give cereal crops a ‘break’, and does help to fertilise the soil, naturally adding nitrogen, the pesticides used could be dangerous to pollinators and the environment. However, with swathes of sunshine yellow stretching to the horizon, and the air heavy with a pungent, honeyed scent, fields of rapeseed have become a quintessentially British image of pastoral idyll, particularly in late spring, when the countryside is an agrarian tapestry of ebullient colour.
A SLITHER OF HOPE
The best chance to see an adder is during spring, when they are emerging from hibernation. Britain’s only venomous snake, the adder has been systematically persecuted throughout history and will likely disappear from most of Britain in the next 15-20 years if action is not taken. In this informative book, author Nicholas Milton covers the history, decline, ecology and threats posed to the species, including a
10-point plan, which, if implemented, could help to restore the adder to its former range across Britain.
The Secret Life of the Adder RRP £25, www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
FAMILIAR WARBLER’S CHEERY CHORUSES
May is a good month for listening to the orchestra of birdsong that reverberates around the countryside, with International Dawn Chorus Day taking place on 5 May. A member of the warbler family, the chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita, can usually be heard singing from the treetops, with its uplifting, repetitive, onomatopoeic ‘chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff’ song that has earned the species its name. Often confused with the Willow warbler, this dainty bird sings persistently through to July and is best identified by its distinctive song, which no other warblers have. Its understated charm lies in its unassuming plumage, with olive-brown above and pale yellow below. It usually has a pale eye stripe and dark legs, though not always. Chiffchaffs nest close to the ground in dense vegetation, with five to six eggs laid in May or June. Two broods may be raised each year.
LIGHTING
