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By *olgate OP Man
over a year ago
on the road to nowhere in particular |
I saw a sparrow on my garden wall this morning, I haven't seen a sparrow around my house for years. The magpies living in the tree at the bottom of my garden put paid to any sparrows nesting.
I think the parakeets have scared the magpies off as pigeons are now nesting in the trees and the sparrows now seem to be returning.
I like magpies but I really have missed seeing the chirpy cockney sparrow |
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The OH came home the other week with three pigeon breasts for dinner .... the marinating took two days. I think he did it on purpose as he grossed the rest of the family out ... apparently they taste like liver |
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By *isaB45Woman
over a year ago
Fabville |
I put hanging bird-feeders in the trees in my garden, on the thinner branches. That eay, only the smallest birds can feed. The branches cannot support the weight of the magpies and larger birds.
I can sit with a cup of tea and watch sparrows, robbins, blue tits etc. feed.
Lx |
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By *olgate OP Man
over a year ago
on the road to nowhere in particular |
Many many years ago I was in the central square in Wembley watching an impoverished elderly Eastern European couple catching pigeons and depositing them in their shopping bag.
It would have put a lesser man off his lunch. |
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By *isaB45Woman
over a year ago
Fabville |
"I put hanging bird-feeders in the trees in my garden, on the thinner branches. That eay, only the smallest birds can feed. The branches cannot support the weight of the magpies and larger birds.
I can sit with a cup of tea and watch sparrows, robbins, blue tits etc. feed.
Lx"
*I used the plastic tube style feeders, as they are inly accessible for small birds. |
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"Many many years ago I was in the central square in Wembley watching an impoverished elderly Eastern European couple catching pigeons and depositing them in their shopping bag.
It would have put a lesser man off his lunch. "
One thing though, the pigeons keep away from us now .... |
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By *olgate OP Man
over a year ago
on the road to nowhere in particular |
"Many many years ago I was in the central square in Wembley watching an impoverished elderly Eastern European couple catching pigeons and depositing them in their shopping bag.
It would have put a lesser man off his lunch.
One thing though, the pigeons keep away from us now .... "
they wise up quickly "eat or be eaten" |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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There are two types of sparrow, the house and the tree (or dunnock) 
The former had been in decline for many years. In London, sparrow numbers fell by 60% between 1994 and 2004 and the House sparrow is now on the red list of conservation concern and a priority BAP species 
A lot of it has been associated with the decline in mealworms and an increase in pesticide in urban areas, combined with a lack of nesting habitat.
House's are a sociable nesting species and roost in small colonies.
By providing grubs in the diet and artificial nesting is hoped that the decline can be halted |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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too many cats in my area,wiped out a lot of garden birds..there was something on a news item recently,the sparrow numbers have begun to rise everywhere in the last couple of years,except in residential areas with plenty of gardens |
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By *olgate OP Man
over a year ago
on the road to nowhere in particular |
"There are two types of sparrow, the house and the tree (or dunnock)
The former had been in decline for many years. In London, sparrow numbers fell by 60% between 1994 and 2004 and the House sparrow is now on the red list of conservation concern and a priority BAP species
A lot of it has been associated with the decline in mealworms and an increase in pesticide in urban areas, combined with a lack of nesting habitat.
House's are a sociable nesting species and roost in small colonies.
By providing grubs in the diet and artificial nesting is hoped that the decline can be halted "
I have never seen any research commenting on the rise in the number of magpies and the decline of the house sparrow |
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"
I have never seen any research commenting on the rise in the number of magpies and the decline of the house sparrow"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/7368019/Magpies-not-to-blame-for-songbird-decline.html
There is a similar report from the RSPB, but not sure if that link would be allowed.
Mr ddc |
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"When I was a kid I recall 1000's of starlings and sparrows. Hardly see any now. Plenty of magpies and seagulls though. I suppose it's loss of habitat and stuff.  "
We grow our own veg, and when you compare the number of caterpillars on ours to those you buy in the supermarket, you realise what a ecological disaster area much of our countryside has become.
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"There are two types of sparrow, the house and the tree (or dunnock)
The former had been in decline for many years. In London, sparrow numbers fell by 60% between 1994 and 2004 and the House sparrow is now on the red list of conservation concern and a priority BAP species
A lot of it has been associated with the decline in mealworms and an increase in pesticide in urban areas, combined with a lack of nesting habitat.
House's are a sociable nesting species and roost in small colonies.
By providing grubs in the diet and artificial nesting is hoped that the decline can be halted "
Yes there are two types of Sparrow (Tree and House) but the Dunnock isn't one of them.
Dunnocks get confused with Sparrows because in some areas they are commonly called Hedge Sparrows. However they are not a true Sparrow.
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"There are two types of sparrow, the house and the tree (or dunnock)
The former had been in decline for many years. In London, sparrow numbers fell by 60% between 1994 and 2004 and the House sparrow is now on the red list of conservation concern and a priority BAP species
A lot of it has been associated with the decline in mealworms and an increase in pesticide in urban areas, combined with a lack of nesting habitat.
House's are a sociable nesting species and roost in small colonies.
By providing grubs in the diet and artificial nesting is hoped that the decline can be halted
Yes there are two types of Sparrow (Tree and House) but the Dunnock isn't one of them.
Dunnocks get confused with Sparrows because in some areas they are commonly called Hedge Sparrows. However they are not a true Sparrow.
"
Yes thats true they look more like a Alpine Accentor and same family to. |
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By *obka3Couple
over a year ago
bournemouth |
"When I was a kid I recall 1000's of starlings and sparrows. Hardly see any now. Plenty of magpies and seagulls though. I suppose it's loss of habitat and stuff.
We grow our own veg, and when you compare the number of caterpillars on ours to those you buy in the supermarket, you realise what a ecological disaster area much of our countryside has become.
"
The suppliers to the supermarkets make sure there arent any on anything they supply, the customers would demand compensation for having a creepy crawly on their dinner |
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"When I was a kid I recall 1000's of starlings and sparrows. Hardly see any now. Plenty of magpies and seagulls though. I suppose it's loss of habitat and stuff.
We grow our own veg, and when you compare the number of caterpillars on ours to those you buy in the supermarket, you realise what a ecological disaster area much of our countryside has become.
The suppliers to the supermarkets make sure there arent any on anything they supply, the customers would demand compensation for having a creepy crawly on their dinner "
Any veg etables in the garden soon come under attack my dad and grandad used to grow all sorts and got the pests to but we still had the veg but if Intervention had not proceeded to rescue the veg from pests we would have lost a lot of veg, even now something attacks and strips the leaves off my runner beans I never see what it is that does it and its not slugs or snails no slime trails what so ever, for years my dad and grandad grew runner beans and never had this pest I,m thinking of spraying them with a systemic Insecticide not sure How safe that is yet. |
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"I put hanging bird-feeders in the trees in my garden, on the thinner branches. That eay, only the smallest birds can feed. The branches cannot support the weight of the magpies and larger birds.
I can sit with a cup of tea and watch sparrows, robbins, blue tits etc. feed.
Lx"
Best way to look after your blue tits, is to keep them wrapped up during cold spells. (Sorry I couldn't resist it).
When I was growing up we always had a nesting box on the house for birds, also made sure there was plenty of food out for them. You don't see much of anything nowadays on people houses. |
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Also better property maintenance has had an effect especially on the urban Sparrow and Starling populations.
When I was a kid many of the houses around us had small holes under the eaves where the birds used to nest. Repair the holes, lose the birds. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I have a resident nutter Sparrow who likes to sit on the window sill and look in. He also aims the odd head butt at his reflection before helping himself to the contents of the dog bowl. |
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Mr ddc
