Sometimes things have an eerie way of coinciding. I am a long-time
watcher of Springwatch. It’s a great programme for both the expert and the
novice wildlife enthusiast. I loved the early days with Bill Oddie who brought
a level of childish enchantment with the natural world that very much resonated
for me, he could at times be a little much, but I was saddened when he left and
was replaced by Chris Packham. Chris exemplifies the more scientific side of me,
and his analyses add much to the calibre of the programme. It was last week
that one article in the programme caught my interest.
Chris was explaining how nutritious in omega 3 oils certain
insects were and that those of an aquatic nature had the highest contents. It
was after this that whilst I was down on my patch that this year there was a
profusion of Mayflies, more so than any other. Whilst sat on the riverside I
noticed several small birds flitting out over the river catching them. At first,
I thought they may have been Spotted Flycatchers. They breed up neat the church
and very occasionally come down to the river. It was also possible they were
Blackcaps or Whitethroats. Seeing one alight on a branch I was able to get a
binocular fix on them. To my surprise they were common old House Sparrows. I
don’t often see House Sparrows on the patch and if do then they are usually in
the winter.
Over the spring I have started to see them by the handful and
their presence catching mayflies proved that they were breeding on the site or
possibly close by. Mainly granivorous birds, they feed their chicks exclusively
on insects. The quantity they seem to be consuming suggests these will be some
very happy chicks fully of omega three.
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