A year ago we were viewing our house sparrow population - or, rather, overpopulation - as something of a menace but their numbers have declined so drastically since last summer that we now worry about them. They obviously worry about themselves too, spending a great deal of their time in the tangled undergrowth along the side of our house, which makes us think that a sparrowhawk may be part of their problem.
However, there are times when one temptation is too much for them so they venture out into the open....
....and that's a bath.
Bathtime with the sparrows is a community occasion, with everyone gathering around the pool to enjoy a drink, a chirrupy gossip, and, for some of the more adventurous....
....a plunge in the pool. The female sparrow on the left went all the way, jumping into the water and....
....splashing around and getting so sodden that....
....climbing out become a problem - but not so much of a problem as to prevent her....
....leaping back in again and disappearing almost completely under water.
We now rather like our sparrows and would miss them and their antics desperately if the sparrowhawk ate too many of them.
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