Bird nest in the cherry orchard next door
Photo: PK Read

Grey skies, but it’s stopped raining for the moment, so I thought I’d share a few photos of bird’s nests that are waiting for eggs this morning. All of these are located within about thirty seconds of our front door. The nests look a bit worse for wear, but within a couple of weeks at least some of them should be busy with activity. The birdsong this morning is loud, varied, and all around.

Swallow nests – some supported, some not – in the neighboring barn
Photo: PK Read

A nest blending in to the trumpet vine on our house
Photo: PK Read

We have a few chocolate eggs to be distributed, but we don’t otherwise celebrate Easter, or Pâques as they call it here in France. Up until last year, the bells of our village’s 12th-century church would be silent from the Thursday before Good Friday until the morning of Easter to mark the death of Jesus. Children were told that the bells had all flown off to Rome to visit the Pope, and when they rang out again on Sunday morning, that the bells had returned. Hence the prevalence of chocolate Easter bells in France. The stories are still told as they are every year, but sadly, the historic church was gutted by fire last spring, and the bell tumbled to the ground. The church is now under renovation, the bell has been recovered for repairs. We’ve missed the sound of the old bell, but like the swallows and the geese I saw flying overhead yesterday, with any luck it’ll be back again next year.

Sparrow nest in a wall
Photo: PK Read