No manicured lawn here!

We did the RSPB Garden Birdwatch today and it was as we suspected – the House Sparrow was our most populous bird. Here is a female watching out from the tree.

Sadly in the country as a whole the House Sparrow has gone into severe decline and is on an RSPB Red Alert. No one knows what accounts for this and it is probable that there are a number of factors, such as changes in agricultural practices, more cats in urban gardens. Of course the more unkempt a garden is the more likely it is to provide shelter and insects for sparrows. So we’re okay then!!