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!! Damselflies mate on the edge of rivers!! Young deer hide in the forest!! Polar bears swim between ice floes in the Arctic!! Young turtles rush for the sea on Ascension Island!! Male impalas fight one another in southern Africa

... plus things to do and look out for in May

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First published in 2012 by Orpheus Books Ltd, 6 Church Green, Witney, Oxon OX28 4AW England

www.orpheusbooks.com

Copyright © 2012 Orpheus Books Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilizedin any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including

photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrievalsystem, without permission in writing from the publisher except by a

reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Created and produced by Nicholas Harris, Sarah Hartley, Katie Sexton,Ruth Symons and Erica Williams, Orpheus Books Ltd

Text by Ruth Symons

Scientific consultant: Chris Jarvis, Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Illustrated by Martin Camm and Ian Jackson

ISBN 978 1 7418 3790 1

Printed and bound in Singapore

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THE WORLD - 6 EUROPE - 12

North America - 14

North America - 16

ARCTIC - 8

EUROPE - 10

Central america - 18

Atlantic - 20

Southern africa - 22

Southern Africa - 24

indonesia - 26

THINGS TO DO - 28

IIN THE NORTHERNhemisphere, spring movesinto summer. Most animals

are breeding or raising their youngby now. Meanwhile, in the southernhemisphere, winter has nearly arrived.Animals start to leave for warmer lands or else prepare for the winter months.

In the northern hemisphere, most migrantbirds have arrived from their winteringgrounds in the south. Many birds arebuilding their nests, or gathering food fortheir newly-hatched chicks. Some earlyfledglings have already flown the nest.

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By May, the martinshave returned toEurope from Africa.Towards the end ofthe month, theyfind mates andstart to build nestsfrom mud andsaliva. They buildthem on theoverhang of cliffs or under the eavesof buildings.

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Most mammals staywith their young toprotect them, or elseleave them hidden fromsight. In the forests of NorthAmerica, Europe and Asia,many young are born withmarkings to camouflagethem. For example, wildboars !right" are born withstripy fur to help them blend in with their woodland habitat.

In the southern hemisphere, the nights are growinglonger and temperatures are starting to drop. In partsof South America and southern Africa, autumn marksthe start of the rainy season. Around the continent ofAntarctica, temperatures plummet and sea ice startsto form.

A wild boar familyforage for food onthe forest floor

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AAS TEMPERATURES RISE in the Arctic, the ice capstarts to melt and the sea ice breaks up. Polarbears follow the receding ice in pursuit of their

main prey: seals. They may swim long distances betweenice floes, but though the bears are strong swimmers,they cannot match a seal for speed in the water.

When the sea ice melts completely in the summer, bearseither head further north, where the ice never melts, orswim to land until the sea freezes again in the autumn.

IIN MAY, hugeflocks of Arcticterns fly north

to breed. They haveflown all the wayfrom Antarctica, ajourney of nearly35,000 kilometres.But this epic journeyis worth the effort: bymigrating, the terns can avoid thehardships of winter at either pole.

The terns gather in huge colonies to mate and breed.Their chicks would make an easy meal for a fox orgull, so the colony guards them fiercely. If an intruderapproaches, the birds assemble in an angry mob,squawking loudly and diving at the intruder’s headwith their sharp beaks.

A pair ofterns moban arctic fox

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AAS THE SUN RISES, a roe deer leaves her fawn inthe undergrowth at the edge of a forest. Until itis strong enough to run away from danger, the

young deer is safest hidden from sight. The mother’spresence will only attract the

attention of predators,so she stays away

for most ofthe day.

Fawns are born withspotty markings, tocamouflage themin the dappledlight of theforest floor. A fawn can stayperfectly still andsilent for hours at a time. Any movement would give away itslocation and potentially attract danger.

Meanwhile, across Europe, fruit trees burst intoblossom !above". The branches become busy with bees and other insects collecting pollen. When wind shakes the trees, petals cascade from the branches, covering the ground below.

A cherry treein blossom

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OON THE BANKS of a European river, Maybrings a flurry of activity. A family of mallardducklings follow their mother across the

water, while a kingfisher dives for fish.Her young family, concealed in thesandy riverbank, are constantly hungry.

EE UU RR OO PP EEAt the water’s edge, two brightly!coloured damselfliesare clasped in a mating embrace. After a mid!air chase,

the male grabs the female by the head andbrings her to land on a water plant.

Close by, a mayfly prepares to take flight. Mayfliesspend a year or more as nymphs before they leave the

water and take their adult form. But their adult life lastsonly one day. This is because adults cannot

feed; their only goal is to mate and layeggs before they die.

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OON THE GREAT LAKES, huge colonies ofwestern grebes gather to breed. They havespent winter in the south, but fly north in

spring to establish breeding colonies.

Before they mate, the grebes take part in elaboratecourtship dances. Couples appear to trot across thewater side by side, with their wings held back andtheir elegant necks curved upwards.

Once a couple have performed their dance, they setabout building a nest. Grebes build floating nests,anchored by weeds in the lake floor. They makethem close together, forming a large raft where theeggs are safe from land predators. They are so safe,in fact, that parents may even leave their eggsunguarded while they feed.

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AAS SUMMER approaches, ladybird larvae,hatched in the spring, change into adults. But in the American Southwest, they make this

change just at the time when their main food, aphids,are dwindling in the summer heat. So the ladybirdsleave the hot lowlands and fly to cooler hills nearbywhere they will sleep through the hottest months.

IIN SOUTHERN CANADA, warmer weather signalsthe start of the breeding season for red!sidedgarter snakes. The snakes have spent winter

crowded in rock crevices, sheltering from frosts, but now they start to emerge.

Males are the first to venture out. They crowd aroundcracks in the rock, waiting for females to stir. As eachfemale comes out, she is quickly surrounded bymales, all competing tomate with her.“Mating balls”of males aroundone female maycontain up to100 individuals.

A mating ball ofsnakes writhes on the ground.

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IIN THE RAINFORESTS of western Costa Rica,heavy rains have drawn out a crowd of goldentoads. Bright orange males gather around rain-

water pools, waiting for females who come there tospawn. Males grab on to passing females and arecarried to the pools. As the female releases her eggsinto the water, the male fertilizes them.

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TTHE BREEDINGSEASON forharpy eagles

coincides with thestart of the rainyseason in April orMay. Pairs buildlarge nests high inthe rainforest canopy.Both parents tend to theeggs, but after the first chickhas hatched, all other eggs are abandoned. Chicksstay in the nest for about six months, dependenton food from their parents until they are forced tofend for themselves.

The harpy eagle is one of the largest birds of preyin the world. It is strong enough to prey on slothsand monkeys.

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Two maleswatch a female

in a pool after spawning.

AALONG THE BEACHES of Ascension Island,hundreds of green turtles are hatching. They are about to make the most dangerous

journey of their lives: from their nests to the ocean.

The hatchlings scrape away the sand over theirnests then hurry towards the sea, guided by thesound of the surf. As they waddle across the beach,the young turtles are picked off by dozens ofhungry gulls and crabs.

When they finally near the sea, the surviving turtleswait for a wave to carry them away. In the waterthey are safer. They can dodge the beaks of divingbirds, but they must still avoid sharks. The youngturtles search for rafts of floating seaweed. Onthem they can drift safely until they are big enoughto swim in the open ocean.

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AAMID THE SAVANNAH plains of southernAfrica lie the swamplands of the OkavangoDelta. The annual flooding, starting in May,

draws a huge variety of animals to the region.

Buffalo, zebras and elephants flock to the area, but otheranimals live here all year round. Sitatunga antelope live onthe edge of the swamps, ducking under the watercompletely to hide from predators. Hippos spend theirdays in the water, coming out at night to feed on grass.

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AAUTUMN IS THE MAIN mating season for the impalaantelope. Males aim to establish a territory that willattract passing females, ideally an area of woodland,

where the antelopes’ young can be reared safely.

But most territories can only be won by defeating itsowner in battle. Males lock horns and try to throwtheir opponents off balance. There may be somany challengers for a territory that thedefending male has no time to eat. If thishappens, he will grow so thin and weak that he is eventually overpowered.

While holding a territory is desirable, it alsohas its dangers. Impalas usually live in herdsand alert each other to danger. A solitarymale is more vulnerable to attack frompredators, such as lions and cheetahs.

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IINDONESIA’S DRYseason brings long daysof relentless sunshine

and baking temperatures.The heat is making thistiger uncomfortable, so it looks for a place tocool down.

In the middle of a shadedglen, it finds a shallow pool.

Approaching the water, the tiger drinks a little, thenwades in up to its shoulders. It lies here submergedfor an hour or two.

Tigers are the best swimmers of all the big cats. Theyeven have slight webbing between their toes, whichenables them to power through the water easily.

MMAY IS THE START of the Komododragon’s mating season. Males competewith each other over females and often

fight to display their strength and dominance.

Fighting males grasp each other and stand ontheir hind legs, struggling to push over their rivals. Fights sometimes result in severe injury or even death.

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MMini-beasts includeinsects, spiders,worms, woodlice

and other types of smallcreature. Try this activityto get a closer look at mini-beasts.

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4 The mini-beasts will avoidthe heat and light of the lampby wriggling downwards anddropping into the jar.

5 Now you can have a goodlook at the mini-beasts.

6 When you have finishedlooking at the mini-beasts,make sure you put them backwhere you found them.

3 Fill the funnel with the leaves youhave gathered and place it beneatha lamp—not too close or your mini-beasts will overheat. Leave thefunnel there for an hour or two.

1 Wearing gardening gloves, scoopup some fallen leaves from the ground. The

longer the leaves have been there, the more mini-beasts will have made their home amongst them.

2 Place a plastic funnel in the mouth of a glass jar.If you do not have a funnel, you can easily makeone by rolling up a piece of card or paper.

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Bluebells

A Ladybirdflying

Brokeneggshells

A dragonfly

A fernuncurling

See how many of these things that typically happen in Mayyou can spot. Award yourself the points on the right!

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PPick a fresh looking dandelionwith a bright yellow flowerhead—that is, before it goes

to seed and turns grey and fluffy.

Holding the dandelion likea pen, use the sap from itsstalk to write a message ordraw a picture on a pieceof white paper.

You won’t be able to seeanything straight away.Leave the paper to dryand your message willgradually become visible!