A Flock of Tree Sparrows

 

So I got my wish. That pair of tree sparrows that turned up at Hannah's last April stayed, bred and multiplied. Back then I was excited to spot them, and more excited when the young ones started to appear.

Now there are fourteen (at least) of them and they are champion scoffers. Seed feeders are emptied in a couple of hours and they do tend to hog them. The tits manage to get a bite to eat but I worry about the finches. I'm looking at setting up a sparrow free site at the back of the yard. More bird feeders are needed.

Now, if anyone reading is from Northern Ireland you will know that all adults here were able to apply for a SpendLocal card worth £100 to help local businesses recover from the Covid lockdowns. Bert and I gave a lot of consideration as to where we would use ours. Wanting to get into the spirit of the thing, we decided to spend our windfall in locally-owned shops. I was explaining to Bert what he needed to do.

All you need to do, the first time you use it, is enter your pin number into the card reader and afterwards, you can use contactless.

He said,

I don't even know what any of that means.

And I realised, he has never used a card reader in his life. He was going to find it difficult to spend his largesse as spending for spending's sake is not his idea of a fun time. 

Then we looked out the window. As usual, the feeders were hooching with tree sparrows. I'd already bought three more seed and fat ball dispensers from Montrose with some of my SpendLocal card. It was obvious what Bert needed to do.

The next day we went to Broughshane and spent Bert's entire card on seed, peanuts and sunflower hearts. Now I need to look into the feeders that sparrows cannot access to give the finches a chance.

Did I mention that tree sparrows are also messy feeders and drop lots of seed on the ground? We've got a gleaner who deals with that. We call him Herbie.

Tree Sparrows

Seeing as this blog is useful as an aide-memoire I really should be at it more often. So, let me tell you all about the highlight of my day. I got to see the pair of tree sparrows that have been hanging around Hannah's back yard.

Tree sparrows have been in decline over the years mostly due to changes in farming practices. Yet, for some reason, populations in Northern Ireland do better than anywhere else in the British Isles. I hope the pair we spotted will breed here. The place they have chosen to visit should suit them well - among old and overgrown trees where humans rarely step, plenty of seed plants growing nearby and old walls in which to build nests. And the added bonus of Hannah's seed feeders.

Too much tidiness is a bad thing. Wildlife doesn't like it. I will never forget the story a friend related about his next-door neighbour power hosing swallow's nests out of his eaves. Because the swallows 'made a mess'. Pure ignorance.  Actually, it's too kind to call it ignorance. It was an evil action.

Tomorrow I will take a cleaning cloth and vinegar to Hannah's window on the wood. All the better to watch and photograph the birds.