The Storks
The storks are back! Every year the same storks return to this part of France and they almost always return to the same nests. They remain in couples all their lives, and both partners look after the young and each other. They will nest in the most precarious positions on the top of pylons and in dead trees- they choose dead trees so that the leaves and twigs don’t get in the way of their huge wings. However, sometimes a dead branch will fall off taking the nest with it and it can be heartbreaking watching the parent birds circling round and round trying to find their young.
The tradition of storks bringing babies started in Germany and the Netherlands during the 14th century. The souls of unborn babies were said to live in the marshlands and the storks would carry them from the marshlands to their new parents- Storks are usually seen in marshy areas. As Victorian prudishness overtook our society in the 19th century, children were told that that is how babies are made.
Catherine Broughton is a novelist, a poet and an artist. She is widely travelled and writes regularly for magazines and blog sites. Her sketches are on her web site http://turquoisemoon.co.uk . Her books are available from Amazon and on Kindle, or can be ordered from several leading book stores.
Click here for Eleanor of Aquitaine
Click here for legends in France
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Catherine Broughton is a novelist, a poet and an artist. Her books are available as e-books on this site:-
https://payhip.com/b/tEva “A Call from France”
https://payhip.com/b/OTiQ “French Sand”
https://payhip.com/b/BLkF ”The Man with Green Fingers”
https://payhip.com/b/1Ghq “Saying Nothing”
They are also available on Amazon & Kindle, or can be ordered as paperbacks from most leading book stores and libraries.
