There's a tree in the next street that I christened the sparrow tree about ten years ago. It's a conifer of some sort but it's swathed in thick ivy and the sparrows love it and the entire tree is always alive with cheeps and chirps. I used to wonder how the house's inhabitants coped with having a big, dark tree so close to their front windows, and I dreaded the day when they would decide to chop it down and rob the merry band of sparrows of their habitat.
I hadn't walked that way for a week or so and today I took the long way round to the corner shop and oh woe, the ivy had been chopped off at the roots and the brown leaves hung dying in the tree. Only one or two sparrows were still cheeping. I don't know if they have nests there or if they just use it as a roosting place.
At least the tree is still there, but the cover will soon be gone and that is what sparrows need. I think the reason why there is a healthy population here is that so many people have kept their privet hedges, complete with sparrows' nests. If only the gardening magazines would decide that privet hedges were trendy again. Nothing nests in Leylandii!
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3 comments:
We have a lot of ivy and the sparrows love it! I hate to see things being chopped down when there are likely to be nests. So sad.
Unfortunately, things DO nest in Leylandii. Our neighbour's hedge of it hosts sparrow, blackbird and greenfinch nests and our cat treats it like a snack bar, walking the fence top and scooping birds out.:-(
You do surprise me, Jacula. When I took some down in a previous property, there were no signs of life in their dusty branches so I thought birds avoided them.
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