From our kitchen window we have watched a flock of sparrows daily descending on the shrubs growing against our fence. A summer flowering Jasmine, a winter flowering one, and a thorny Pyracantha with its red berries in time for winter, providing food and cover which the sparrows enjoy. The young tend to attack the berries in their early growth or is it the bugs lying in the folds of the growing shrub that they love.
They arrive in large numbers, and all disappear within the shrubs making a constant cacophony of excitable sound, nonstop chattering, which, as one, abruptly stops when they detect some presence. A cat or a human, or larger birds. They immediately rise up as one, out of the shrubs, in a cloud of flapping wings heading off to nearby safety, to return as soon as the danger has gone away. They have provided entertainment for years, so it is of concern that lately we haven’t had the pleasure of their company. What is happening? Where have they gone? Is it a temporary phase?There was one particular incident which prompted me to record it in one of my poems in POEMS BY AN OLD CODGER – BOOK SIX
WAR ON MY DOORSTEP
I’ve just witnessed a violent act,
Outside my window and that’s a fact.
Aggression, bullying and headbutting too,
In daylight here, at half past two.
Mob rule is taking place, blow after blow,
A crowd is gathering ready to have a go.
As one drops down onto the floor,
Another steps in to settle a score.
Two little sparrows sitting on the fence,
Spotted the feeder with its fat ball contents.
Quickly they landed and shared the space,
Alas, more birds approached at a hell of a pace.
They came like a war-time Kamikaze attack,
Trying to land on front, sides and back.
Frantic action towards one another,
Beaks and wings weapons of potential murder.
Attacking each other, the feeder swaying ‘to and fro’,
The bullies not aware of the fat crumbs on the floor.
The young sought the hedge to escape the hate,
The wise enjoying the pickings down ‘on a plate’.
Aggression is a one-dimensional act,
To destroy all around with little tact.
No consideration, no perception,
No sensitivity nor discretion.
Does this sound familiar today?
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Stay Safe,
Neil