Going green is only wonderful if it’s real

WINTER reveals what was hidden all summer. Three nests in the garden, visible from my workroom window.

I never knew they were there.

One is a bundle of sticks, high up in the fork of an ash tree. I took it for a magpie’s nest, minus the dome, or possibly that of a high-flying grey crow. But this morning, I saw a rook up there, fiddling around with the twigs. Crazy crow, I thought. Is it complete bamboozled by the weather? Somebody told me they thought they’d seen a swallow. Could be. In 2001, I saw one in late December. However, most Irish swallows are on vacation, enjoying the balmy summer in South Africa after months of hard work, rearing a family here. Does one swallow make a summer in Botswana?