After an appalling long winter, spring has finally arrived. Just back from a blissful two weeks in our maison de week-end in the Sancerrois. The garden is burgeoning and if I am not mistaken we are having a record number of birds passing through. A nightingale has settled in a hedgerow across the road, and his evening chorus is delightful.. French bird book in hand, I have been ploughing through the Internet trying to match French names with the English ones I learned as a boy. I now know that bouvreuil is bullfinch (not that we have any), pinson des arbres is chaffinch (too many of them) and chardonneret is my favourite, the goldfinch (not enough). We also have grimpereau (nuthatch), patre (stonechat) and rouge-queue (redstart). We also have a cat, which is not such good news -- but as i always say: cats may be a bain for local birdlife, but they are a boon to budding ornithologists. Without a close-up look at the specimens, I'd have no idea there was such variety! Next nature instalment -- the local beavers. Yes, they are thriving a short bike ride away!