Hi Tweets:

This week there are young Dark-eyed Juncos being fed in my yard and young
Purple Finches at my feeders. From my relative in the U.K., who lives in
Leicester, England, here's another perspective on the House Sparrow.

"I have a pair of House Sparrows nesting in a box put up by a PHD student of
the local university who is doing her thesis on the reasons for the decline
of HS in the UK. She has put up around 500 boxes, but only about 20 are
occupied, in rural, suburban and industrial locations. My pair have four
chicks they are feeding. They are currently 5 days old, and we are colour
ringing them on Friday all being well. I'm listening for cheeping under the
box every morning to check they are still alive! Its a bit of a mystery as to
why they are declining, plenty in my garden, but none in some areas now. They
used to be considered a 'pest species' but I think that legal status is
currently under review. Anyway, I do hope mine survive. I have to keep an eye
out during the winter around the locality to see how far they disperse etc,
that's if they survive the cats, magpies and sparrowhawks. Hopefully, they'll
have a second brood."

Joyce Meyer
Woodinville, WA