May...

Donald Trump said yesterday that he thinks the USA needs to tool up with more nukes. Well, greetings of the season of peace and goodwill to you too, Mr President-elect. With 2016 being seriously discussed among historians as a candidate for 'the worst year ever', the ominous tweet seemed almost designed to underline how little there is to look forward to in 2017 for those on the lunatic fringe who think nuclear holocaust a very bad idea. A good excuse to look back, then, to a time before democracy proved it's not all it's cracked up to be - to spring, and to May in particular, whose turn it is in my review of the year, as migrant birds arrived in their millions to distract us from the grim realities of existence.

The first half of the month was enlivened by some rare and scarce visitors to my adopted home county of Dorset - Kentish Plover, Black-winged Stilt and Red-rumped Swallow were all good birds, but top billing went a to dashing female Red-footed Falcon at nearby Morden Bog and a Great Spotted Cuckoo on Portland - a Dorset tick for me and many others. It gorged on Brown-tail moth caterpillars, which can be found in huge numbers at Reap Lane, for several weeks.

Red-footed Falcon, Morden Bog: my photo of the month for May

Great Spotted Cuckoo, Portland

Red-rumped Swallow, Lodmoor

Kentish Plover, Ferrybridge

Lepidoptera loomed quite large in my life in 2016: as well as being the first spring in which I had the opportunity to put my new lens through its paces photographing these smaller subjects, I steered an Action Plan for Pollinators through to adoption at Dorset County Council - a small but important attempt to boost the prospects of our declining butterflies, moths and other pollinating insects. Later in the year, some wildflower verges we had created as part of this got a hugely positive reaction from the public - the first time in my twelve year career in local government when the compliments in my inbox have outstripped the complaints! But back to May, which saw the emergence of many sought after species around Dorset's butterfly hotspots:

Duke of Burgundy, Cerne Abbas

Green Hairstreak, Cerne Abbas

Small Blue, Portland

Chequered Skipper - a rarity in Britain restricted to a few sites in north west Scotland - we visited one at Allt Mhuic on the way south from a trip to the Outer Hebs

May ended with one of my most epic and enjoyable adventures of 2016 - a three day trip to the Outer Hebrides with David Bradnum and Paul Welling. We made this mammoth journey to pay homage to the unprecedented spring occurrence of a Black-billed Cuckoo from the Americas and, having done so, to appreciate the dramatic landscapes, the breeding waders and other wildlife of North Uist, South Uist and Benbecula:

Black-billed Cuckoo, North Uist: bird of the month for May

Corncrake, North Uist

Redshank, Outer Hebrides

Female Red-necked Phalarope, Outer Hebrides

One of the highlights of the year and the furthest I travelled in 2016. Fortunately it came at the start of a week off providing for a leisurely stay to appreciate the breeding birds on the Hebrides as well as the vagrant Cuckoo - I would have had neither the energy nor the inclination to just 'smash and grab' the rarity in such a memorable location. And no, Mr Trump, it would not be a good place for a golf course...

Chequered past, bright future

At the end of our recent trip to the Outer Hebrides, we calculated that, weather permitting, there should be time to look for one of our rarest and most localised butterflies, the Chequered Skipper, as we passed near some of its strongholds in Invernesshire and Argyll on the way south.

The pearly underwing of the Chequered Skipper resting on a Bluebell

Argent & Sable, a nationally scarce moth, was a bonus at Allt Mhuic

The original plan was to head for a well known site at Glasdrum Wood, near where I spent a week at Easter. But on disembarking the ferry at Uig and setting the satnav we realised we had forgotten how big Scotland was! We were concerned that it might have been too late by the time we arrived there so we quickly hatched a Plan B to head for the Butterfly Conservation reserve at Allt Mhuic, an hour further north and therefore closer to us, and only a short detour off our main route south. I had not been to the reserve before, and my travelling companions had never seen Chequered Skipper, so all agreed it was well worth the diversion.

We bounced along the minor road which skirts the northern shore of Loch Arkaig admiring the attractive landscape and eventually found the reserve entrance. After a brisk walk anti-clockwise around the circular route with no sightings, I came across the first Chequered Skipper on the path on the downward slope heading back towards the car park. Once we had seen one, others started to appear and we admired their feisty, territorial behaviour.

The Chequered Skipper went extinct in England in the 1970s but, after a failed reintroduction in Lincolnshire in the 1990s, plans were announced last year to reintroduce it to suitably managed habitat in the East Midlands. Good news indeed which will hopefully lead to it becoming established in its former English haunts - though for dramatic backdrops, the Scottish colonies will remain difficult to beat. A spectacular setting, a lovely reserve and a fitting end to an excellent trip before the long journey south - a big thanks to my co-pilots Dave Bradnum and Paul Welling for their company.

Enjoying the Scottish night life

An Easter break in Scotland with the family sees us in a cottage on the shores of Loch Creran, a marine Special Area of Conservation for which my friend and colleague Dr Ken Buchan wrote the management plan when he lived in these parts. And a fine job of it he did too, it looks in pretty good shape, albeit I can't quite see below the inky surface to see what's going on with the Serpalid reefs and other features for which the area is designated.

When I first met him, I remember asking Ken about the differences he noticed in moving from Oban to Dorset. ''I find people a bit more positive down here'' he said. ''If we had a nice, sunny day up there, folk would say 'Oh no, we'll pay for this next week!' '' I haven't had the opportunity to verify this yet in conversation with the locals as it's been reassuringly dreich since we arrived.

Not that we're complaining, it's been a good excuse to stay indoors and gaze at the Loch from the window, and, in any case, it's a bit early for the migrant birds to arrive, and much too early to see the Chequered Skipper, whose stronghold is just around the corner from where we're staying, on the wing (we made a pilgrimage in May a few years ago to see them). So we've been happy to let the moth trap do the hard work, wildlife wise. Nothing spectacular so far, but some nice specimens all the same.

Oak Beauty, a slightly worn individual

Hebrew Character - a couple of these in and around the light

Early Grey - the commonest species so far

Engrailed - a couple pitched up on the wall overnight

Yellow Horned - a lover of the birch which surrounds our temporary home 

And finally one from the archive when the sun was shining: Chequered Skipper at Glasdrum Wood, seen on my last visit to these parts in May 2008