Poetry in Motion

Woweeee, lucky to get this shot. She landed on the nut feeder, grabbed one and flew off. Wonderful sight.

House Sparrows

 One of the highlights during the summer months  are the House Sparrows and their chicks. I get inundated with them  and have known up to forty parents and young chicks on the feeders, grass and garden at any one time. Chick are usually on the grass, rockery, hedge or path. The chicks are very comical, hopping around feeding but when mum or dad come along they start fluttering their wings to get fed. I usually get two broods a years and the numbers are still high. There was a large hedge at the other side of the play park. House Sparrows would land there in droves. Then as if a whistle was blown they flew across the play park and into my garden. I did try to photograph them but the pics were not very good. But seeing them was 'poetry in  motion' as it were. Maybe next year the perfect pic will come through, here's hoping. Got another House Sparrow pic that really is poetry in motion, but that's for another day. They may not be the most colourful of our bird life  but they still give us all pleasure.

House Sparrow Mayhem

I have probably said this before, but last year I could get 40 + House Sparrows feeding in the garden at the one time. There must have been 7 or 8 families. It was quite comical at times. The chicks would be feeding themselves but if their parents came near, they stopped feeding immediately, fluttered their wings and made a din begging for food. Poor parents always gave in. This year I haven't quite had so many House Sparrows but the video above illustrates the mayhem they cause on the feeders. All good fun though, everyone gets their share of the feed eventually.

More House Sparrows

House Sparrow numbers are beginning to increase again this year. Parents are starting to bring their chicks to feed. Only had two chicks a few weeks ago that came regularly with Dad. I'm trying to get a photo of a parent feeding a chick. So far the quality hasn't been too good but I'll keep trying.

House Sparrows

I was inundated with House Sparrows last summer. Anything up to 40 at a time, entire families would flock in to feed on the feeders. Over the winter months there were less and less House Sparrows coming to the feeders. I started feeding on the ground a few weeks ago just to try and encourage more visitors. Sparrows still came but Chaffies were the most common visitors. What I did notice was that most of the birds were feeding on the ground and leaving the feeders alone. Only the Tits and the occasional Chaffie would use the feeders and bird table. I stopped feeding on the ground except for bread once a day. Now quite a number are back on the feeders. This was one of the first House Sparrows to use them again.