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Wiltshire in Pictures: Flowers and Easter flames

Weather Watchers / CraigRich A forest with large bed of bluebells with sunlight shining through the tree trunksWeather Watchers / CraigRich
Colourful blooms are now becoming visible across Wiltshire

There was a flurry of activity at Salisbury Cathedral this week and plenty of Easter Sunday events elsewhere in Wiltshire.

As the weather warms, photographers have also been out and about capturing the colourful scenes as early spring flowers bloom.

And a famous pair of birds welcomed new chicks, live on a web stream.

Longleat A large brown snail close-up sitting on a hand that wears a blue plastic gloveLongleat

Saving from extinction: A six-and-a-half-centimetre snail believed to have been extinct until being re-discovered in Southern Vietnam in 2012 will soon be on show at Longleat. Only 300 giant magnolia snails are left in the world and the safari park now has eight of them.

Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images A bonfire on a sandy pit on in the dark. It is a grassy area and a crowd of people can be seen behind. To the left, clergy stand together in special garments for Easter.Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Paschal candle: A bonfire was lit during the lighting of the candle ceremony outside Salisbury Cathedral for Easter Day. The Paschal candle is a sign of Jesus rising from the dead.

Weather Watchers/Carolyn R Dawn with the sun rising from a track up high looking over a landscape, but is is covered in low lying cloudWeather Watchers/Carolyn R

Changeable weather: No surprise for April, the weather has not been consistent. Weather Watcher Carolyn R sent in this picture from the Tidworth area of a misty, mysterious landscape.

Bradford-on-Avon Town Council An old bridge over a river with arches - people gathered on it with two large sacks of plastic yellow ducks being thrown in for a duck race.Bradford-on-Avon Town Council

Quacking good time: Rubber ducks sold out - more than 1,000 - for the ever-popular annual duck race at Bradford on Avon, which always attracts large crowds.

Salisbury Cathedral A large bird of prey sits in a wooden box with a gravel bed on a paved area. It has a couple of broken eggs and a newly hatched chick can just be seen.Salisbury Cathedral

Easter surprise: the peregrine falcons that like to use Salisbury Cathedral's nest box have had their chicks hatch. The nest is watched every year with the cathedral providing live feeds on its website.

Getty Images New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, wearing trousers and a plain white shirt, meets soldiers in uniform at a base on Salisbury PlainGetty Images

World interest: New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a visit to Wiltshire where Ukrainian forces were being trained by the UK and New Zealand military for Operation Interflex.

Two large fire engines parked outside the front of Salisbury Cathedral with a crew walking about in full gear. A cherry picker rises from one engine while the other has hoses out for the practise run.

Practise run: Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service had an organised exercise at Salisbury Cathedral in case of fire. It included cherry picker style equipment to get high up the cathedral walls.

A large yellow JCB vehicle with a grabber arm hovers above some burned debris on a sunny day. To the left, the remains of burned building wall can be seen.

Heritage in smoke: the debris of a listed World War One-era aircraft hangar is being scooped up as the community wonders what will happen next at the Old Sarum airfield site after a blaze on 17 April. The fire service is still investigating.

Rab Boyce A scarecrow beside a wall indoors. Huge and shaped like a 18th century woman with huge dress and wig. Appears to be made from straw and old sack material.Rab Boyce

Village project: Preparation is well unde rway for the Urchfont Scarecrow Festival near Devizes, including this magnificent one. It is the 25th festival and will be running on the 4, 5 and 6 of May.

A traditional old brick house, the front covered top to bottom with purple wisteria. Gaps for windows and front door.

Purple walls: it's the time of year for wisteria and a lot of old cottages in Wiltshire are covered in it, including this one snapped by a BBC reporter.

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