Birds
Migration season continues this month. Many of the brilliantly colored warblers are just passing through, but some migrants stop and stay to breed in North Carolina. Local breeders include Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Ovenbirds, and Prairie Warblers.
May may also be your last good chance (at least for a couple of months) to catch some spring shorebirds, including plovers such as Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, and sandpipers such as Spotted, Solitary, Least, White-rumped, and Upland Sandpipers. Keep an eye out as well for lingering Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, and Black-crowned Night Herons.
Fledging season is underway, too. In the Piedmont, species documented to fledge in May include Eastern Bluebirds, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Brown Thrashers, Northern Mockingbirds, Northern Cardinals, Pileated Woodpeckers, and Barred Owls.
Butterflies
May is a wonderful month for skippers—quick, darting butterflies in the family Hesperiidae. Expect to see species such as Swarthy, Clouded, Least, Fiery, Tawny-edged, and Crossline Skippers. Skippers can be challenging to identify, but careful observation (and quick photography) helps. Even so, some—like Tawny-edged and Crossline Skippers—can be so similar that they may be difficult to separate even from photos.
Other butterflies to look for this month include hairstreaks (such as Coral, Banded, and Striped Hairstreaks), Great Spangled Fritillaries, Northern Pearly-eyes, Appalachian Browns, Common Wood-Nymphs, and Little Wood-Satyrs.
Reptiles and amphibians
Expect to see snakes even during the day. By mid-summer, heat pushes many snakes toward crepuscular activity (most active at dawn and dusk), but in May it’s common to encounter them at midday.
This is also a loud month for amphibians. Large choruses of Northern Cricket Frogs, Fowler’s Toads, Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toads, and Cope’s Gray Treefrogs can be heard, along with Bullfrogs and the Green Frog’s characteristic three-beat, banjo-like call.
Other insects
The first fireflies often appear in May. Also watch for hummingbird moths—moths that hover like tiny birds and make an audible humming sound as they feed. Toward the end of the month, you may find annual cicada shells clinging to tree trunks.
Mammals
Several bat species, including Little Brown Myotis, Silver-haired Bat, Eastern Red Bat, and Big Brown Bat, are courting this month. You may also begin seeing young rabbits and opossums.
In bloom this month
As spring ephemerals fade, May can initially feel less showy—but there are real gems, including the high-contrast Green-and-golds and the pitcher-shaped Jack-in-the-pulpits.
In bloom
Jack-in-the-pulpit – Arisaema triphyllum
Smooth sweet-shrub – Calycanthus floridus
Green-and-gold – Chrysogonum virginianum
Hearts-a-bustin’ – Euonymus americanus
Little-brown-jug – Hexastylis arifolia
Beaked hawkweed – Hieracium gronovii
Rattlesnake-weed – Hieracium venosum
Bluets – Houstonia caerulea
Summer bluet – Houstonia purpurea
Eastern yellow star-grass – Hypoxis hirsuta
Colonial dwarf-dandelion – Krigia dandelion
Wood-sorrel – Oxalis sp.
Running five-fingers – Potentilla canadensis
Blackberry – Rubus sp.
Lyre-leaf sage – Salvia lyrata
Skullcap – Scutellaria sp.
Maple-leaf viburnum – Viburnum acerifolium
Sense of Place 