Sparrows Need Hedges

Take The House Sparrow Housing Estate Challenge...

I will describe three separate Council Housing Estates situated within my London Borough. Each has differing amounts of bird life in them. After reading the descriptions of the three Estates, I invite you to guess which of them has House Sparrows.

The first housing estate I shall call Estate A, the second Estate B, and the third Estate C.

Estate A was built in the 1960s it consists of several 4 and 7 storey apartment blocks, seemingly rising out of the ground, as on some sides of the buildings the grass grows right up to the walls. Elsewhere, there are few trees, no hedges, and the areas of grass between the blocks are devoid of dandelions, daises and clover. The pavements linking the blocks are sprayed with weed killer each year. No resident has a separate garden, though some people have planted flowers outside their blocks, while others have plants in large pots by their front doors.

Estate B was built in the 1970s and consists of blocks of various height and rows of terraced houses with gardens. Where there are fences, ivy has grown and it’s been allowed to climb up walls. A wide variety of shrubs grow in the communal gardens, and there are many trees of different species throughout the estate. The grassed areas contain many common weeds, and beech hedges border many of the car parks.

Estate C was built in the 1940s, a sprawling district of traditional roads and houses, nearly all with gardens front and back. Privet hedges are everywhere, bordering properties and communal grassed areas. Although many residents have removed hedges to park cars off-road, much of the estate still retains its original character.

Now, with the descriptions I’ve given, can you mouse-click on an Estate below that you think is likely to have House Sparrows?

Estate A Estate B Estate C