Dear Readers, I should hasten to point out that the photos in this piece were taken over the past few years, but what a treat it was this morning, to stand in my back bedroom and gradually realise that I could hear a familiar chirruping sound. The sparrows have been away for months, but this morning they’re clearly back.

How I love these little birds! Their disappearance was a real source of sadness for me – during most years they bring their fledglings to the garden to feed them (and presumably to teach them where the feeders are).

I know that they nest under the eaves of a friend of mine, and she hasn’t seen them lately either. I hope that they’re making their way in her direction.

All the websites and books suggest that house sparrows are intensely sedentary, rarely venturing more than  2 kilometres from home. So where have the sparrows been? And are these even the same sparrows? Apparently they form foraging flocks and head out to find food together. I suspect we’ll never know, and I imagine that many people have the experience of birds frequenting their gardens and then disappearing.

And for those who are still sparrow-less, here is a cheery group of sparrows from France, just getting ready to start their day…they are not the most tuneful of birds, but  what they lack in lyricism they make up for in energy.