That over the shoulder look

We’ve been spending a lot of time these last days clearing up and cleaning after the power—washing, and trying to sort the garden out, One of today’s tasks was to repot the stored dahlia tubers - the first time I’ve done this, so no idea if they’ll come back. Only one way to learn, and that’s to have a go,

Being much more home based, we are on closer terms with our house sparrow “colony”. We tolerate them, they tolerate us. They spend a lot of time in the Ivy, hidden from view - no idea what they are to in there.

And they have a much wider range of calls than I used to think. They’re a social species, so the different calls - they are always chattering - must carry meaning between the birds.

They’ve been collecting nest material, and - judging by their actions, they’re not shy - we’re going to have young sparrows around again before too long.

Close up, the males plumage is attractive, in an array of browns and greys. Not a drab little brown bird at all.