House Sparrows seen or heard (in the latter case counted as 1 if actual number could not be seen) en route from Grasmere Rd to Maiden Lane on the morning of 20th January were as follows:
Grasmere Rd/Merewood Rd: 11
Old Manor Way playground / Parkside Av (most front gardens trashed for parking, but railway embankment to north and Barnehurst Golf Course to south, plus properties with careworn wooden roofline facings so the birds can still get in) : 29
Perry Street roundabout bramble patches plus house nearby on Wyatt Rd: 11
Perry St Farm/Stoneham Park: 35
Medway Rd/Swale Rd/Beult Rd/Mayplace Av/Maiden Lane: 29
Total: 115
Other species on Perry Street Farm (recommended for SINC status in the massively delayed review, due to recording work demonstrating its importance for birds in winter) were 3 or 4 Lapwing, 1 Stock Dove, 2 Feral Pigeon, several Wood Pigeon, Carrions Crows, Magpies, at least 90 Starling, Common, Black-headed and one Lesser Black-backed Gull.
Chris Rose
