Hello, and thanks for reading my newsletter on the things I’ve noticed, enjoyed, and spent time drawing lately, according to the seasons.
I aim send these letters out every fortnight (every three microseasons, if you want to get technical), with about six newsletters a season. My last update was rather late and abbreviated, as some life/house things got in the way!
You’re reading the sixth and final installment of Spring - or the Japanese season Kokuu, grain rains. This means that you’re probably reading this in the summertime!
Today is the 5th of May - the first of summer, according to the microseasons. That might be surprising for some of you - “Is it really though”? You might say, looking out at this overcast and chilly start to things.
There’s lots of ways to mark the seasons; lots of people follow the meteorological start of summer - one that is determined more on changes in climate and temperature, and is still about a month out. Some might push this even further to think of the solstice (21st June) as the start of the season. I personally find that the halfway point between the equinox and solstice as good a time as any, seeing both as the height of their respective seasons, rather than the start. This is in keeping with more traditional ways of telling time in the British Isles, such as with Beltane, which passed on the 1st of May.
I now associate the summer’s start with the arrival of wild flowers, swallows and swifts, all of which are beginning at this time of year, as well as the end of the cherry blossoms - one of the last and most poignant signs of springtime.
While the cherry blossoms have now faded, we are not wholly finished with the tree blossoms. Now is a good time to catch hawthorn trees (Crataegus monogyna) in bloom. Hawthorns are sometimes referred to as May Trees, often associated with the start of summer and the end of unpredictable spring frosts. However, due to Climate Change, hawthorn flowers do come slightly earlier than expected, particularly down south.
Honourable mention: It’s the very start of wildflower season along the Water of Leith. While bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) arrival on the threshold of Spring and Summer, I consider the arrival of Leopard’s Bane (Doronicum austriacum) and Campion (Silene dioica) as early signs of summer.
An obvious result of all the nesting we’ve seen in recent weeks, we’re now getting into the season of chicks and ducklings. I’ve been obsessed with checking in on the Peregrine livestreams from various UK cathedrals, which has encouraged me to take a deeper dive into other nesting streams such as Robert Fuller's live cams. I find nesting cameras an amazing insight into bird life I’ll not see on my own until they start to fledge. Ducklings, on the other hand, are far more public - it’s always fun to see the mallard ducklings trailing their mum along the Water of Leith.
Honourable mention: Now is the time of year to catch the first swallows and swifts making it up north to Scotland. They’re still few and far between - while I am convinced I saw a flash of swift-like movement last week, it might be hopeful anticipation.
