Around 1pm the female was in
the box (pic 1) when a small group of House Sparrows assembled
in the birch tree. She went into defensive mode straight away,
spreading her tail and holding her wings out behind her (pics
2 and 3), swaying from side to side as she did so.
Several times she would fly
up to the entrance, maintaining her flared tail and wings when
there (pics 4 and 5). Although I could see her beak open several
times she did not seem to call at all (pic 6). However, she made
a great deal of noise as her wings vibrated rapidly.
In pic 7 you may just make
out an object just to the right of her head - this is a Sparrow
that approached the entrance as she flew up. It left very quickly
and, as I watched through bino's so did the rest of the group.
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