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Monday 20 June 2011

Shadoxhurst House Sparrows

This is our garden 'king' Sparrow. He sits boldly above the garden communal nest - chirping his song throughout the day. Unusually he's no longer wary of me or the camera.

Early morning walks through the village show just about every house having its own family of House Sparrows calling from the roof tops - the Kings Head pub being particularly popular. In our own garden, House Sparrows nest in a communal box on a Larch tree. More popular is a big communal nest deep within the safety of a hedge of Dog Rose and Bramble, that I've left specifically for them. Its difficult to know just how many birds nest and roost here - but the noise at dawn is deafening.

Despite the infilling of front gardens with slabs and shingle, I've no doubt that the village Sparrow population is in good shape. Their success is probably a combination of good nesting places (under eaves), and good adjacent farmland for insects in spring and seeds in autumn.

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