A flock of my own!

For several years now there have been reports that some of our most popular garden birds are under threat due to loss of habitat and food sources. This includes our chirpy friend, the house sparrow whose numbers have taken a dive and nobody is sure why this is. Some of it may be due to loss of suitable places to nest, some is down to the loss of natural food sources and some is probably due to increasing numbers of predators such as sparrow hawks.
Well, I'm one of the lucky ones! I've been feeding birds in my garden for the past twenty six years or so and I think that successive generations of the house sparrow now have a built in 'instinct' to find their way to the bird table in my garden. I have always had a small flock of house sparrows as well as assorted other garden birds but this year the numbers have swelled tremendously. I think they have reared at least three lots of chicks so the numbers are now in the region of fifty or maybe more.
It's so relaxing and entertaining to watch them when they come to feed and as a flock they are extremely clever. There have been sparrow hawks in the area for several years and in fact I have even had them sitting on the top of the bird table in the past waiting for tea. The sparrows (I call them the 'Chip Chip' gang because of their chirpy call) always know when there is danger because they come over to the garden about a dozen at a time and conceal themselves in the honeysuckle then the next lot join them. They feed quickly and silently then all congregate in the honeysuckle before leaving in small gangs as they had arrived. I think they know where the sparrow hawk patrols and when he's about they all stay very quiet and hide themselves.
It's lovely on warm, sunny afternoons when there isn't any danger because they are far more relaxed as they come over to the garden to feed. Then they take it in turns to have a communal bath in the water lily tub and sit on the fence in the sun to preen themselves while drying off.
I feel honoured to have a flock of my own even if they do cost quite a bit in feed. Their favourites include some of Bill Oddie's mealworm crumble, mealworm suet treats and sunflower kernels as well as mixed seed in the feeders and their own peanut feeder.

My solution to the riots

I have made a list of suggestions that I think Parliament should seriously consider in response to the recent riots in our cities. We are currently far too soft and our police force have to pussyfoot around instead of getting in there and sorting out those who are hell bent on causing trouble. Some of the following could also be used as a deterrent for the drunken weekend revellers who puke, pee, brawl and fill our city centres with rubbish as well as for any future protest and demonstration that gets out of hand.

1. Anyone who has been arrested in connection with the aforesaid troubles should not expect the upstanding British public to cough up for them to have legal representation. Legal aid is a luxury they have waived their entitlement to because of their actions. Instead, the money should got towards the police wage bill.
2. If the perpetrators are under 16 they must stay at school until they can pass a minimum of 5 GCSE subjects at grade 'C' (even if it takes them the next twenty years). In order to finance this their parents will have to give up the fags and booze and get a job.
3. If they are under 16 and are able to read, write and speak properly, when they have passed the mandatory 5 GCSE's and leave school they will forfeit half their wages for the first twenty years to help re-finance the businesses and rebuild the homes they have destroyed by their actions.
4. Those above the age of 16 found guilty of any of the above crimes will automatically forego the right to any State benefits for life and will not receive a pension unless they have contributed to the pot in the way of taxes and National Insurance contributions for a minimum of forty years regardless of their current age. Those currently working will contribute half their wages for the next twenty years to the compensation kitty for the lives they have destroyed.
5. Anyone found guilty of the above crimes will automatically forfiet the right to social or council housing for life.
6. Those found guilty and given a prison sentence will be sent to 'no frills' prisons where they will be found hard, smelly work to do and not the current 5 star 'hotel' type prisons we have at the moment (these will all be changed to very basic prisons over the next 5 years).
7. Police will be given the powers to use as much force as is needed to arrest those involved in any civil disturbances in the future and any participants waive the right to to sue if they get a little bruise or bump in the process.
8. In the future, any rioter, protestor or demonstrator that injures an officer carrying out his duty to protect the public and their property, or in any way injures either a police dog or police horse will be detailed to scrub out the stables and kennels with a small nailbrush every weekend for the rest of their working lives.
9. Anyone arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour will have to spend every weekend for the next five years cleaning out public loos with a toothbrush.
10. Those caught discarding their fast food containers or cans in public places will spend every weekend litter picking in city centres for a minimum of ten years.

Summer frustration!

This year the weather has been somewhat upside down to say the least. We had a very warm spring which brought all the plants on in leaps and bounds so that they flowered well before the time they should have done but recently it has been rather cool, wet and windy so that other things such as the annual bedding plants and tomatoes have slowed right down.
One of the other problems that I've had with some of the annuals that I bought back in May is the compost. Being conscientious, I bought a bag of organic peat free compost but it is absolutely useless. There were great big lumps of unidentifiable stuff in it and all the plants grown in it have failed to thrive despite being given liquid feed regularly. The tomatoes do have fruits on them but they are very small compared to previous years so next year I will be going back to my usual compost.
So with the weather and the compost, it has been a rather disappointing summer so far. I had visions of being able to potter about and do dead heading then sit outside and relax in the shade on warm, sunny afternoons just watching the bees in the flowers, but that has only been possible on a few occasions. I'm hoping that September and October will be better where the weather is concerned because this year I have a lot of plants that need either digging out completely or dividing because they have got far too big. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.