When we first took over this house some ten weeks ago we were thrilled at the small bird population which appeared as soon as the first feeders were put out, amongst them a few house sparrows. Since then, with their natural food richly supplemented, the sparrow population has exploded: at one point this afternoon we counted no less than 21 of them in the garden.
Partly it has been immigrants who, hearing of the food bonanza, have flown in from miles away to join the feast. Partly it has been that the ready availability of supplies has resulted in an exceptional year for young - this female, front left, is being harassed by three young.
As the population has increased, so has competition at the feeders. The feeder at right was designed so only the tit family could reach the fat ball: it only took the sparrows a few days longer than the tits to get the hang of it.
Our vegetables are having a hard enough time surviving in the current miserable weather - the temperature at 11am this morning was 9C - but the sparrows are putting any spare space to good use. You can hardly see them in this picture but there are four sparrows here enjoying dust baths.
Despite the stress on our groceries budget - we buy seed and peanuts by the sack - we don't begrudge the birds their food as we get so much pleasure from watching their antics - until we saw a sparrow eating our precious peas. The peas really have struggled and don't stand a chance if the whole hoard develops a taste for spring greens. Netting has been deployed, but we've just spotted a sparrow which has found its way through it.
Where's the local sparrow hawk?
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