The Lincolnshire Bird Club

I counted 42 house sparrows in my garden yesterday!

We seem to have had a bumper breeding year, with at least five pairs breeding in my garden (all under pantiles), most are second brooding, one is still building a nest.

I have two birdfeeders which I am now having to refill with wheat every two days, and I am regularly getting up to 10 house sparrows on the feeders at any one time.

Yesterday's count of 42 was highlighted by birdtrack http://blx1.bto.org/birdtrack/main/data-home.jsp as breaking the local threshold level.

Anyone else recording high numbers of house sparrows?

Andrew

_________________
-----------------------------------------------------
Andrew Chick
Website: http://www.forktail.co.uk/

We don't feed the wild birds in the summer but have about 25 house sparrows that regularly visit my vegetable patch. They are crazy for the leaves of beetroot. I uncovered my beetroot row a few days ago with the plants at least a foot high and the house sparrows immediately started eating the leaves that they could reach. Strangely, they do not seem to like brassica or lettuce leaves. I wonder what it is about beetroot that attracts them?

Roy

Max. no. of House Sparrows in my garden at any one time was a record of 30 (filling every available feeder port in the garden) about 2 years ago.

_________________
Follow Me on Twitter!

At least 25 pairs breeding at Stenigot on the old M.O.D. establishment.

Here in my Horncastle town garden, House Sparrow numbers are now beginning to pick up again, last Saturday (12th July) saw 20+ birds here.
Noting from my Garden Bird Survey 2013 records, that by Sat 10th August (week20) I had 40+ Sparrows. This continued for:-
Week 21 16th August 40+
Week 22 24th " 40+
Week 26 16th September 42
After that numbers declined to more countable levels.
Besides which they were costing me too much in bird feed, with mixed seeds, peanuts, sunflower and fat balls being consumed at a great rate of knots!

Cheers

Rob