A FRIEND recently saw a nightjar in Timoleague in west Cork, a sighting worth reporting.

ON sunny days — rare this summer — as we walk the lanes, bees are buzzing, flowers blooming, butterflies fluttering and birds carolling from the trees.

THE heron hesitated.

IT is 22 years since I came back to live in West Cork and 20 years since I began to write this column.

AS we cycled the small roads and tracks of the Aran Islands on the weekend before last, we enjoyed the best weather of the year.

I HAD a call from a reader during the week complaining of Japanese Knotweed.

NOW in the merry month of May, a potpourri of events and delights on our doorstep.

MAY is the month for wildflowers.

THE first of May, a cold, wet day, a grey sky and trees still leafless across the field.

MANY residents of my West Cork village consider it a rare privilege to have ravens nesting close by.