We have World Elephant Day and World Rhino Day, so why not World Sparrow Day? But before I get round to the humble sparrow, let me draw your attention to a somewhat larger bird – the crowned eagle.
Virtually every day we are entertained by the high-pitched trilling cries of the crowned eagle, there are usually two of them that swoop and circle above us.
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We often go out to see them and today they were wheeling above us, a wonderful sight, and then there appeared a woolly-necked stork at the same altitude, and then another and another until there were five of them, all circling up there with the eagles. Now, on the ground the woolly-necked stork is not particularly elegant, but up there on the wing he is like a Japanese painting, one of the most graceful and beautiful fliers in our skies.
Anyway, the crowned eagles fairly soon moved out of the now quite crowded airspace and we, enthralled, went back to our coffee. Minutes later this avian canvas was completed by the cries of a pair of fish eagles, often heard but not so frequently seen – what a morning, and we hadn’t even left the Hide.
Now, that humble sparrow. Next Tuesday, March 20, is World Sparrow Day, a day to be taken very seriously, particularly for birders. I’ve always said that if one is looking for a quote for any situation, you will find it in one of two places, the Bible or Shakespeare.
Let’s take the Bible first, Matthew 10:29-31 ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows’. And Luke 12:6 ‘Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?’
Now Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act V, Scene ll: ‘There’s a certain providence in the fall of a sparrow’ – In other words, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, and there’s not a lot you can do about it.
Meanwhile, the mossies are a constant source of delight for us. They come down early to the hide and look quite irate if I haven’t put out the birdseed yet, and you don’t want irate sparrows around. Then they fight over the free breakfast. And fight they do, they must be the most irascible of birds, constantly squabbling and snapping at each other. The same goes for the bird bath, it is often full of squabbling mossies, splashing and tweeting (the original meaning of the word). Anyway, Happy World Sparrow Day, I hope you get to see a sparrow.
And a final quote, today is March 15: to the Romans ‘the Ides of March’ and the day on which Julius Caesar was assassinated. As he lay dying, he must have remembered that a few days earlier, an old woman in the crowd warned him “Beware the Ides of March” – what was that about providence?
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