I Blame Alan Titchmarsh

[poliphilo]

They say there are fewer small birds around this winter.  I was going to write a post about it-  echoing the official line that it's all our fault for paving over our suburban gardens and planting leylandii- which discourages insects, which discourages birds- only there were no fewer than seven sparrows on our feeder yesterday- which is as many as I've ever seen- so I'm not altogether sure it's true.

Mind you, there's still the aesthetic argument.  Patios are hideous and leylandii boring-  so dig 'em up,  people, please!

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I don't quite understand the sparrow thing. Sparrows and pigeons were about the only birds we had around when we were growing up, and I lived in an area of terraced houses with no front gardens and paved back yards.

I was assuming it was something to do with the construction of modern houses that didn't give them anywhere to nest.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well, yes; I always thought sparrows liked an urban environment- that they were basically unkillable.