This week it is the turn of the Sparrow and the House Sparrow (Passer Domesticus) in particular. It is strongly associated with human habitation and can live in urban or rural setting. In Scottish dialect the sparrow is known as the Speug which I think is a brilliant word.
When I was a kid they seemed to be ubiquitous and often were the only bird that you would see in the garden. A few years ago we used to have a squad attracted by our bird feeders but sadly they seem to have disappeared again and we rarely see them now.
To the music and we have to start rather morbidly with the Trinidadian calypso artist The Mighty Sparrow. Hopefully his song Sparrow Dead does not apply to those who used to frequent my garden.
Next up are the brilliant Big Thief with the snappily titled Sparrow from the not so snappily titled album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You.
Let's continue with Toronto's finest band The Sadies who like a Translucent Sparrow.
We conclude with Josh Rouse with Sparrows Over Birmingham which I suspect references the Alabama city as opposed to the West Midlands one.
All that and nary a reference to Dolly Parton or Sparrow and the Workshop.
More feathered friends next Friday.
The Mighty Sparrow - Sparrow Dead
The Sadies - Translucent Sparrow
Josh Rouse -Sparrows Over Birmingham
Fortunately 'Sparrow Dead' doesn't apply to Mighty Sparrow himself. Still going strong at 89.
ReplyDeletePS According to the Blog Archive on the right this is your second Part 6. A clever trick to make the series seem shorter than it really is.
DeleteThanks
ReplyDeleteDuly changed.
I've called in the relevant staff for a dressing down.
As you've probably guessed, I do love a sparrow! We're lucky enough to see plenty here, and this year one particularly plucky female has taken to perching on the back door handle to look into the kitchen to attract our attention when the bird food runs out. I'm liking 'speug'; here they're 'spadgers' - an equally nice word!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to sparrows the celius illustratus definitely has pole position on the perch.
DeleteNot many sparrows round here any more now you've mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to do a I Like Birds 7b - The Sparrow you could include Hundreds of Sparrows (Sparklehorse), Maybe Sparrow (Neko Case), Maybe Sparrow (Laura Cantrell) and of course the greatest of all Sparrow named tracks, Mary Hopkins' version of same.
ReplyDeleteAs you will have spotted, Laura's track is Someday Sparrow and not as I said
ReplyDelete