We had a very bright sunny start to the day but before we went out to enjoy it I took today’s photo of the Cock House Sparrow. As I have told you before they are in a dramatic decline and in the last decade populations have literally halved. In large parts of Europe, populations are decreasing. In the Netherlands, the House Sparrow is even considered an endangered species. Currently the number of breeding pairs is estimated between half a million and one million.
Various causes for its dramatic decrease in population have been proposed, one of the more surprising being the introduction of unleaded petrol, the combustion of which produces highly toxic compounds such as methyl nitrite. Who knows but it is certainly a disturbing trend.
Out and about today we visited Dartmoor National Park and when we parked by the the River Dart deep on the moor I took some great photographs of some common British Birds. These included Coal Tit, Marsh or Willow Tit, Blue and Great Tits as well as a Yellowhammer, a species of bunting which used to be extremely common in the British countryside but now declining. To have a look at these photos visit, as usual the gallery by clicking on this link, OTHER DEVON BIRDS