Winter Sunshine

House sparrow, Passer domesticus, male.

I like the way the low sunshine filtered through the trees works like a spotlight. This little fellow is looking rather bedraggled. He has probably been foraging in the wet grass.

House sparrows were introduced into New Zealand in 1867 to control insect pests. They were so successful that only fifteen years later they were declared pests themselves.

About ten years ago large numbers of them were wiped out by a flu that affected all the finches. The dawn chorus was suddenly almost silent. I found a lot of little bodies lying about. Now the house sparrows have recovered their numbers in this district, but there are still very few goldfinches, greenfinches, chaffinches and yellowhammers.

One year ago: our coldest day! In my write-up I mention that the temperature was -8.7ºC, but that was only as low as my outdoor thermometer could go. It was actually -11ºC! There was a film of ice on the flowing water.