What to look for in nature in Georgia this May

Which birds are nesting on Georgia’s beaches in May, and where are the red knots?

• Nesting terns, plovers and oystercatchers

  Eggs and chicks from spring into July · Little Tybee Island, Pelican Spit off Sea Island, Cumberland Island, the south end of Jekyll Island, St. Simons’ East Beach and a bar in Gould’s Inlet

  The DNR lists those places as nesting sites. On East Beach and the Gould’s Inlet bar, its page counted 25 least tern nests, 46 black skimmer nests, 21 gull-billed tern nests, one pair of oystercatchers and about 10 pairs of Wilson’s plovers. Nests sit above the high-tide line on wide beach flats or at the edge of the dunes, and chicks hide on the beach or in the grass after they hatch. Several sites keep pets out, and Brunswick Dredge Island is closed to people. Eggs and chicks blend into the sand so well that they are easy to step on.

• Red knots refueling for the Arctic

  Spring stopover; a May survey in 2023 counted 5,840 · Sea Island, Ogeechee Bar, St. Catherines Bar, Ossabaw, Little Tybee and other barrier-island beaches

  Red knots are federally threatened. A report from the Center for Conservation Biology estimated that just under 12,000 used Georgia as a stopover in spring 2016, more than a quarter of the roughly 42,000 birds in the Atlantic Coast population at the time, and it put the typical stay at about three and a half weeks in 2013. In an early-May helicopter survey in 2023, biologists counted an estimated 5,840 along the coast, including a flock of about 2,000 at the south end of Sea Island. Fletcher Smith said about 70 percent of the knots seen in Georgia leave on a nonstop flight to the Arctic. They were eating coquina clams that spring because the horseshoe crabs had not yet spawned, which he linked to colder-than-normal water. Those are single-year snapshots, so do not treat them as a forecast for 2027.

When do sea turtles and diamondback terrapins nest in Georgia?

• Loggerhead nests

  The first nest usually appears in the opening days of May; the DNR program page dates the season from late May to mid-August · Cumberland, Jekyll, Sapelo and the other barrier-island beaches

  Georgia’s sea turtle coordinator told DNR in 2025 that the first nest always turns up in the first week of May; that year Jekyll Island staff found it on May 1. Daily nest monitoring on all the barrier islands begins in mid-May. The DNR’s program page describes the nesting season as late May to mid-August, and the numbers can swing sharply: 4,071 loggerhead nests in 2022, the most since surveys of all the islands began in 1989, then 3,431 the following year and 2,490 the year after that. A network of about 200 volunteers, researchers and agency staff, the Georgia Sea Turtle Cooperative, patrols the beaches under a state permit.

• Diamondback terrapins on the causeways

  Monitored from May through July · Jekyll Island Causeway, the U.S. 80 causeway to Tybee Island

  Female terrapins climb out of the salt marsh to lay eggs, and the roads built across the marsh are where many of them die. The Georgia Sea Turtle Center’s 2024 tally for the Jekyll causeway reported 492 encounters between May 1 and July 21, with 104 of the turtles (21 percent) hit by cars; staff saved 248 eggs from 50 females that were struck. The DNR calls the terrapin a high-priority species in the state’s wildlife action plan and says a researcher once found 133 dead in two abandoned crab traps in 2007. If you see a terrapin on the road, do not swerve or stop in traffic. Call the Jekyll Island terrapin hotline at 912-270-8865.

Which birds are raising young inland in Georgia in May?

• Red-cockaded woodpeckers at Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge

  Spring is the nesting season; ask the refuge for current viewing advice · Jones and Jasper Counties, about 25 miles north of Macon

  The refuge covers 35,000 acres and dates to 1939, and federal managers report a growing population of this endangered woodpecker on it. The birds nest in old pines in spring, so May is a fair time to ask refuge staff where and when they are being seen. Hours, roads and access change, so confirm them with the refuge before you drive out, and watch quietly from a distance.

• Wading bird colonies

  Nesting from about mid-March into July · Coastal Plain swamps, ponds and river corridors below the Fall Line

  The Fall Line runs roughly from Columbus to Macon to Augusta. Below it, herons, egrets and ibises build colonies over water. The DNR says the state’s last survey of these colonies was in 1996 and ran a pilot survey in 2023, and it asks the public to report confirmed colonies through an online form. A site counts only if birds are incubating eggs, brooding young or feeding chicks, not if they merely roost there. Tricolored and little blue herons are the species of concern. Watch from a distance, because all wading birds are protected by state and federal law.

• Hummingbirds at the feeder

  Present statewide by now · Yards and woodland edges

  Ruby-throated hummingbirds reached all of Georgia in March and April, so May is the month to keep the feeder fresh. Journey North takes sightings from volunteers year-round and builds maps of the northward spring migration; its page says the maps give a good idea of the birds’ progress north.

What is still blooming in the north Georgia mountains in May?

• Flame azalea and mountain laurel

  Flame azalea April to May in low and middle elevations; laurel from early May through June (Smokies timing) · Pine and oak slopes and ridges in the Blue Ridge

  Flame azalea opens in shades from yellow to scarlet before its leaves are fully out, and mountain laurel carries clusters of pink-and-white cups. Both are shrubs of dry slopes and ridges. Georgia sources we found give no exact dates, so expect them to open first at the lower elevations and to follow the cool air upslope.

• Where the guide points

  Early May at Brasstown Bald; April and May at Cloudland Canyon · Brasstown Bald, Tallulah Gorge, Cloudland Canyon, Vogel and Amicalola Falls state parks

  North Georgia Living says blooms near Brasstown Bald, including painted trillium and rare orchids on the Jacks Knob Trail, often peak in early May. It recommends the Hurricane Falls Trail at Tallulah Gorge for columbine clinging to rocky outcrops and for several kinds of trillium, and says the Waterfalls Trail at Cloudland Canyon has wildflowers in April and May. Stay on the marked trail. The guide describes these populations as fragile and irreplaceable.

• Stocked trout streams

  Stocking continues from late March through October · Up to 160 streams across north Georgia

  The DNR says rainbow, brown and brook trout are stocked in up to 160 streams from late March through October, and the Tallulah River from mid-March to early September. Anglers age 16 and older need both a fishing license and a trout license, available at GoOutdoorsGeorgia.com. Mountain streams can rise fast after storms, so look at the sky upstream too.

A fawn, a fledgling or a bat pup: what should you do in Georgia in May?

• White-tailed fawns

  Born from late spring into summer · Meadow edges, yards and thickets statewide

  A fawn’s spots and near-absence of scent are its defense, and its mother keeps away on purpose while it lies still. A lone fawn in the grass is almost always fine. Keep dogs leashed, and mow fields and lawns with care.

• Bat pups

  Bats are in maternity season April 1 to July 31 · Attics, barns, bridges and tree cavities

  Georgia has 16 species of bats, the DNR says, and the state advises against excluding bats from a building between April 1 and July 31 because the pups cannot fly and may be trapped inside and die. If a colony has to be removed during that window, a licensed nuisance wildlife control operator must do it. Do not handle a bat. Very few carry rabies, but the disease is fatal without prompt care, so anyone who has contact with a bat should follow CDC guidance.

• Nest boxes you can watch

  Season runs through the summer · Backyard and park nest boxes

  NestWatch, a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, invites anyone to find nests, record what they see, and add the observations to its database, including with a phone app. Check boxes quickly and from the side, and stay away if you notice parents alarm-calling.

What is ripe, and what glows, in Georgia in May?

• Peaches

  Harvest starts in early May; shipping volume builds from mid-May · Middle Georgia orchards around Fort Valley and the Peach Belt

  In a May 2024 statement the Georgia Peach Council said growers would pick more than 50 varieties on about 10,000 acres, starting in early May and running into late August, with promotable volume by mid-May. A cold or late spring pushes those dates back, and a warm winter that damages the bloom can shorten the crop. The council is based in Fort Valley and lists growers on its website for buying direct.

• Blueberries

  Picking in early May in a typical year, with a second wave from late May into June · Bacon, Appling and Pierce Counties in southeast Georgia, and Bristol

  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in May 2026 that workers were harvesting at a farm in Bristol on May 5 that year. Georgia produced about 116.7 million pounds of blueberries in 2025 and led the country in fresh-market production, per USDA figures quoted in the story. A UGA report from 2012 says Georgia has two harvests, one in April and one in late May or June, depending on variety and region. For u-pick dates, call a farm directly.

• Fireflies

  From warm spring evenings onward · Wet meadows, creek bottoms and yards at dusk

  UGA’s Field Report says Georgia has several dozen firefly species. Males patrol at night while females perch on plants and answer with light, and each species has its own flash pattern. Some females copy the flashes of another species to lure males and eat them. Their cold light is nearly 100 percent energy efficient, so it makes no heat, and the larvae, called glowworms, live in moist ground and eat slugs, snails and earthworms. You can tell species apart by their flight style and flash pattern. Turn off porch lights and you will see more.

How warm is May in Georgia, and what does the weather do?

Can Georgia still get a freeze in May?

• Mountain gardens

  Median April 26; nine in ten done by May 11 at Blairsville · Blairsville and the high valleys

  Only one spring in ten is done with freezing by April 8 at Blairsville. Cover tomatoes and beans if a late cold night is forecast, since a spring freeze after leaf-out is the usual way an otherwise warm season turns costly.

How much daylight does Georgia gain in May?

What can you see in Georgia’s night sky in May 2027?

• Eta Aquariid meteors at a moonless peak

  Active from about April 19; May 5 through 7 are the best mornings · East and southeast, in the final hour or two before dawn

  The new moon arrives May 6 at 6:58 a.m., so the sky is free of moonlight when the shower peaks. Sea and Sky dates the maximum to the night of the 6th into the 7th and says a dark Southern Hemisphere site can see up to 60 an hour against roughly 30 in the north. Because the radiant in Aquarius climbs only shortly before sunrise, Georgia watchers get a short window: civil twilight starts near 6:18 a.m. in Atlanta on May 5 (Naval Observatory), and the sky is already brightening by then. Set expectations at a meteor every few minutes at best. The grains come from Halley’s Comet.

• Flower Moon, and a Blue Moon by the seasonal count

  Full at 6:59 a.m., Thursday, May 20; look the evening of Wednesday, May 19 · Low in the east-southeast at sunset

  At the instant of fullness the Moon is already below the horizon in Georgia (it sets in Atlanta at 6:16 a.m.), so the best look is the evening before. On May 19 it comes up at 8:15 p.m. in Atlanta, shortly before the 8:34 p.m. sunset, and a night later it rises at 9:16 p.m. Folklore calls May’s moon the Flower Moon. Because spring 2027 holds four full moons and this is the third, Sea and Sky labels it a Blue Moon under the older seasonal rule. Counting two in a single calendar month, the newer rule, 2027 has none. The Moon will not look blue.

• Mercury after sunset

  Farthest east of the Sun on May 28; try May 12 to early June · Low in the west-northwest, about 45 to 90 minutes after dark falls

  Mercury stands 22.8 degrees from the Sun on the 28th (Sea and Sky lists 22.9), and the evenings of the 27th and 28th are about equally good. Atlanta’s sun sets at 8:40 p.m. on the 27th, which by our estimate puts the planet well placed from roughly 9:25 to 10:10 p.m. Its brightness drops from about magnitude minus 0.6 in mid-May to about plus 0.9 at the start of June, so go earlier rather than later in the window. A clear western skyline and a pair of binoculars make it easy.

• Venus and Saturn in the dawn glow

  Nearest on May 7; check the mornings of May 6 and 8 · Barely above the eastern horizon before sunrise

  The two are 0.6 degree apart on the 7th, an afternoon moment you cannot see, so use the mornings on either side, when about a degree separates them. Venus lifts off the horizon about an hour before the Sun. Saturn is dimmer, and the pair calls for a flat eastern view and ideally binoculars. Count it a challenge, not an easy target.

• Jupiter and Mars after dusk

  The Moon sits near Jupiter on May 12 and near Mars on May 13 · South to southwest in the early evening, both in Leo

  Jupiter is the brilliant steady point in Leo and sets in the small hours, a little earlier every week. The half-lit Moon lies about 1.2 degrees from it on the 12th and about 3 degrees from dimmer Mars on the 13th. By our check, the Moon does not pass in front of either planet anywhere in the United States.

• Milky Way core season opens

  Moonless stretches near the first and last days of the month · Low in the south in the hours before dawn

  Our figures for 40 degrees north show the galactic center high enough, with a dark moonless sky, for up to nearly four hours between May 1 and 14 and again between May 25 and 31. Georgia lies farther south, which lifts the core higher. Leave the town lights behind and wait about 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt.

What can Georgia families do outside in May 2027?

Safety notes for May in Georgia