Lost Sparrows

Today I came across a thorn hedge stuffed with bickering house sparrows. It took me back. When we moved into this house they were the birds that sat on the guttering and woke me up every morning. They were a bloody nuisance in the garden, descending in clouds and doing lots of damage to anything we planted, whether it was edible or not. Then one day, nearly 20 years ago, they were gone - or so it seemed. I've only seen one house sparrow in our garden in the last 20 years. Ok, the niche they left was filled by greenfinches, goldfinches and coal tits, but still...

This shot was taken in the only place I know I can go and guarantee seeing sparrows at any time. They were a bloody nuisance. I miss them.

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
‘Til it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.