"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 8 Dec 2010 09:35:39 +0200, "Iain Churches"
wrote:


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Church locations are fraught with problems - aeroplane noise, traffic
etc We had to temporarily stop a session at Petersham Church when a
huge flock of sparrows landed outside a window:-)


:-)

And they can be quite 'vocal' can't they? We get a flock of them in the
hedge at the edge of the garden and they are a noisy little bunch which
wouldn't do any recording session any good! In fact, I occasionally get
birdsong creeping into my own recordings, along with the odd car going
past!

Sparrows used to be about the most common bird in this part of London.
Then all but disappeared perhaps 10 years ago. And although they've
returned, in nowhere near the same numbers.

What happened to cause a reduction in their numbers?

It's interesting how birds that live in an noisy urban
environment can alter their call/song by shortening it
and rasing the pitch slightly to make themselves better
heard.

Here we have seen a large increase in the number of owls
and hawks, due to, it is said, to an increase in the number
of field mice, voles and moles a year or two ago.





Insecticide. Certainly in England now there are virtually no flying
insects compared to, say thirty years ago. I remember that a cross
country drive back then in summer would involve a few enforced stops
to get all the squashed bugs off the windscreen. Now one or two at
most in an hour's drive is all you can expect. This has had a major
effect on the populations of small birds. A great shame.



You're not wrong but sparrows are grain and seed eaters (and sliced white
white bread) so the lack of flying insects probably present less of a
problem than say the less spilt grain today resulting from efficient modern
farming practices and the farmers ripping out all the hedges.

As to numbers of squashed bugs, I would invite you out for a summer
motorbike ride and you would see just how few bugs there aren't - judging by
the coating you get on your helmet/visor and front of the bike (headlight
etc.)!