A hares dominion.

I glance out of the bedroom window to see the big hare hopping determinedly along the edge of the corn field. Hares in France were lean things. This fellow is enormous. When I first saw him I mistook him for a young deer. On a second viewing that seems about right. He's all of three feet long. I'm guessing that there are no predators in the wild no mans land between sea and fields that he calls home. A hares dominion. 

On our tour of the village we meet the professor of immunology out for an early walk with his spaniel. The spaniels name is Angus. This is ever so slightly confusing. ' Angus sit still !'  Angus - the spaniel - runs rings round Sophie - literally. Sophie looks at him as if he's completely mad. She is not impressed. The professor observes that we have a leucistic crow perching on top of our garden hut. Angus , the human, has never heard of  leucistic crows. You learn something new every day. The crows wings are completely white. I thought it was old.

At six there's a thick sea mist. By seven it's burnt off and the sun is up. We have the beach entirely to ourselves . Sophie chases oyster catchers. The town, by contrast,  is busy. On the clifftop above the harbour there's a sunrise service at what remains of the 8th century church. The university chaplain is there as are a surprising number of students. It's a good natured affair with more than a hint of social gathering to it. A larger group of students are down on the sands below the castle . The braver of the boys, stripped down to their boxer shorts and egged on by sixty or so enthusiastic young ladies,  are being urged into the frigid North Sea . Cries of encouragement mix with bellows of pain.  

Back at the wee cottage all is calm. We walk en famille down to the small beach at the foot of the garden. Sophie could spend all day here sniffing things that the sea has washed in. Lobster creels are an absolute favourite.

 A month ago the beach was a quiet place home to cormorants and ducks. Now, almost overnight,  it's populated with geese and all sorts of sea birds. An avian Coney Island.  Today we see Gannets, Guillemots and Razorbills. Out of the far rocks there may be Arctic Terns and what looks like a solitary Fulmar. After the ravages of Avian flu it's good to see these old migrants returning. What better Easter present could there be ?

From everyone here to all who stop by to visit ' Happy Easter ! '.

Tweet of the day : https://twitter.com/TerribleMaps/status/1644265521477459968

On the radio this morning - Easter Sunday Tchaikovsky  :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrAheBMAvcw