Ornithological discovery

OK, you probably knew this, but we didn't. We had noticed that the sparrow multitude was suddenly not eating the seed that we put out for it every morning. Then we glanced out of the kitchen widow and realised why.

In the barley, still not harvested, one sparrow will fly onto a stalk, pull it down until the head reaches the ground, and wait while the others peck the seeds off. Repeat ad infinitum.

I asked one of them why they preferred this method, with all the effort involved. He said it cut out food miles. You have to give them that.

Meanwhile, as you can see, the field yonder has been harvested and is now being ploughed. The cycle goes on.