Cheep Shot

The title for this was inspired by one of Molly's last blips. I hope she would have liked the play on words.

The house sparrows have been good for my soul today, distracting me from both work and maudlin thoughts. In the birch tree outside my window at the office, a colleague put up a nest box about a month ago. A pair of house sparrows moved in immediately. Now they have a brood of noisy youngsters, and there is a constant toing and froing of Mum and Dad bringing food for insatiable appetites. The continuity of life.

This sparrow was photographed outside our back door. It's the male of the pair nesting above the room in which I work when I'm at home. Here he's taking a rest from feeding duties. He doesn't have much of a song, just a series of cheeps, but Mrs Sparrow loves him anyway.