Just round the corner from me, a builder has grubbed up around 30 metres of privet hedge that used to surround the plot.   It was a lovely hedge, even when it got untidy, but more than that, it was home for dozens of house sparrows.

You might not think that’s a problem, but homebody house sparrows don’t move when their home habitat is destroyed, they just die out.

That’s why house sparrows are now on the red list of conservation concern.    London lost 60% of its sparrows over just 10 years from 1994 to 2004.  Gardens are still being paved over, hedges and shrubs grubbed up.

Sparrows aren’t exotic, or glamorous, but they’re becoming rare.  I for one would hate to lose them.