Outbuilding Sparrows

There’s a male House Sparrow chirping insistently on a bare patch of ground. He’s fluffed up his belly and is enjoying the sunshine. I decide to join him and lie down to get a low-angled view:

House Sparrow - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

There’s a few of this flock, based around Skelwick, which are very pale and ever so slightly ginger. They’re leucistic House Sparrows. Leucism is partial loss of pigment, leaving fur, skin or feathers pale. Here’s one now, on the top of the old mill:

House Sparrow - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

They’re a joy to see going about their business in the outbuildings. They’re not House Sparrows here, they’re Outbuilding Sparrows.

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