I used to live in Brittany, where I worked for a while on a plant nursery. One day while weeding the pots of Azaleas, my boss pointed at the hedge, saying ‘regardes, troglodyte!’ , which I translated as ‘look, a cave dweller!’. Puzzling: life in rural Brittany could sometimes feel like going back in time, but not to that extent.…

Since we moved here 4 years ago, we've always heard and seen sparrows in the gardens of a couple of houses further up the road, but never seen them here. Now they seem to have had a good breeding year, and our garden is suddenly graced with a flock of 8 or 9 'overflow' sparrows. I must confess to being very fond of these once-common little brown birds: their chirping reminds me of pavement cafes in warmer climes, and I like their constant busyness animating the garden.

Because they…