When you wake up before everyone else in the house because
a Scarlet Tanager is singing outside, it’s a good indication that you’re a birder. And also that it’s mid-May. I often sing the praises of September and October, the favorite months of many a year-round Cape Codder and birder. But I hereby acknowledge that May is best. The return of so many birds, fully breeding plumed and in full-throated song, is like an Espresso jolt to the soul after a bleak, sleepy winter. Over the years, at least 334 species have been recorded in Barnstable County during the month of May, according to the eBird database. You won’t see them all, of course, but the possibility is intoxicating.