Wild West Yorkshire nature diary, Wednesday 24th March 1999
THREE HOUSE SPARROWS peck at mortar on a garden terrace wall.
Are they after sand grains for their gizzards?
Or salts for essential minerals?
Does the action help sharpen beaks?
Or is it just a gregarious pastime; if one sparrow does it little group soon gathers to see what is going on?
The Pied Wagtail takes its regular roof-top trot, there's one in the village car park too. They stay with us all year but, in Scotland, the Speyside Pied Wagtails disappear during the winter, a friend tells me they were back last weekend. A Sparrowhawk patrols the garden.
A canal side willow has a halo of yellow-green catkins. At the lock I notice Roman numerals, perhaps over 200 years old, which probably mark the original depth of the canal in feet. Near the road bridge a wall restored perhaps 20 years ago has a couple of dressed stones incorporated into it. What was the original use of that stone? Part of a gatepost perhaps?
THREE HOUSE SPARROWS peck at mortar on a garden terrace wall.
The Pied Wagtail takes its regular roof-top trot, there's one in the village car park too. They stay with us all year but, in Scotland, the Speyside Pied Wagtails disappear during the winter, a friend tells me they were back last weekend. A Sparrowhawk patrols the garden.
A canal side willow has a halo of yellow-green catkins. At the lock I notice Roman numerals, perhaps over 200 years old, which probably mark the original depth of the canal in feet. Near the road bridge a wall restored perhaps 20 years ago has a couple of dressed stones incorporated into it. What was the original use of that stone? Part of a gatepost perhaps?