Gluttonous Birds and a Doleful Ditty.

2013 has been a good year for sparrows where I live. They’ve bred prolifically and there are a lot of them, and that poses a bit of a problem. As soon as I put food on the bird tables, a great flock of sparrows descends and eats the lot in about five minutes. What about the robins, chaffinches, tits, dunnocks, nuthatches and blackbirds, I say. What about them?

I’ve noticed something interesting, though. The sparrows stop feeding earlier than the other birds, so the others do get their turn, even though it isn’t long. I'm speculating that the sparrows are the first to fly off and roost in the nearest wood so as to get the best spots. Woods are warmer than open ground at night, apparently. The trees store heat during the day and then give it off overnight. Or so Bill Oddie says, and he should know. Which interesting little fact gives rise to the worst ditty I’ve ever written:

Where do the little birdies go

When all the fields are white?

They go and find a snugly wood

To keep them warm at night

Terrible. It wouldn’t even make the body of a Rupert Bear annual. I’m uninspired today.