Spuggie come-back

My best year yet in the garden for the charming House Sparrow. In 2004/05, I caught 67 & 34 respectively. Over the road, the field was surveyed and the archeologists moved in. Right opposite was a broken line of Blackthorn on the banks of the brook. In 2006 the civil engineers moved in and realigned the brook to take a new culvert, this as part of the new roundabout that would allow access to the 'new estate'.

The "new build" summer 2007

With the Spuggies' nest sites removed, I managed a mere 5 birds in '06. My buddy "up the road" and I had usually managed to catch similar numbers, but his that year bettered mine. Since then, there has been a general improvement so the little critters had managed to find somewhere else to nest in the locality. Also, in the last two years, the undeveloped 'flood plain' has been planted up, the bank side vegetation has not been violated by the IDB, and there are swathes of wild flowers (mainly tares, St. John's Wort and Bristly Ox-tongue).

3J (juvenile) House Sparrow undergoing full moult

To date, the total of new birds is 91, with 15 re-captures. Of the latter, 1 has been a 3CY (third calendar year), 3 have been 2CY and the others this year's young. The time that has elapsed between catching the youngsters has varied from 2 to 37 days, with an average of 16 days. The first juveniles started their moult into adult plumage in the middle of July. More recently, another brood of 'just-fledged' young has appeared, demonstrating the long breeding season that the species is capable of.