bits and pieces

Wednesday means it's supermarket day, and means checking on the House Sparrows out there. I was getting increasingly worried as I couldn't see/hear the nice little flock that was in the bushes by the car park. I couldn't either find them by their nesting site, yet the catkins they loved last year are almost ready. Today, I finally saw a male peer through those bushes and call. It then flew off and initially looked like it was flying to the houses on the other side of the roundabout when he suddenly made a sharp angle and descended in the 'wasteland' that's between the car park and the derelict warehouses. When I got closer I could indeed hear sparrows in there, but the vegetation was just too dense. However, looking for them, I found a pair of Foxes having a nap in the sunshine.



Its left eye appears to be crying, but it looked otherwise in good health. I miss the time when we used to see them in the back gardens (2004 & 2005 (when we had a litter of 4 cubs)).

The past few weeks, I have noted aMoorhen which must have been from a very late brood last year as the red mask is barely developed, though I admit it's not that obvious on the photos at this size. I would have thought that last year's birds would have fully developed to adulthood by now.





Lastly, I have plugged them before, but it is now even more important than before: if during the months of February to July you see Peregrine activity around tall buildings in your area, please contact the London Peregrine Partnership.