Lots of sparrows this year

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Is anyone else seeing a lot of sparrows this year?
When I was little (in the 70s and 80s) there used to be flocks of them everywhere.
Over the decades they have declined, as measured by proper research and in my own experience. But this year I am seeing loads despite the fact that everything I have read suggests they are still declining.
I am in Yorkshire but my mum in the south east has noticed the same.
Anyone else?

There tends to be an 11 year cycle, OP, between song birds and birds of prey.
The songbird numbers rise, which causes an increase in sparrowhawks, kestrels etc, and nest raiders like magpies and crows.
This slowly lowers the number of songbirds by predation, until there are too few and the raptors begin to starve and decline in number. This fuels a rise in songbirds, and so on.
So some years you will see few sparrows and other years lots.

How interesting!
I haven’t seen any magpies in the garden this year at all and not so many other corvids as usual, so that adds up.

Good news

We've definitely noticed it this year (Midlands) A few years ago they were quite unusual.. now there's lots.

Shame I can't say the same about thrushes.. haven't seen one for many years.

I still get thrushes, though not as many as there used to be.

We have magpies, sparrows, robins and tits (and the ever present parakeets). First year I've seen magpies and sparrows in the garden. (London).

I usually have thrushes nesting in my honeysuckle. They are endearingly stupid - the youngsters try to befriend my cat, much to her bemusement, and calmly allow me to pick them up and put them back in their nest, before the parents belatedly swoop in to chase the cat!
I have only spotted the parents once so far this year, but the mound of cracked snail shells on the patio attests to their presence.

That's interesting @Babdoc

Yes we've seen many more sparrows this year but also, significantly more corvids too.
A jay has visited our garden for the first time in years ( probably 11 years!)

Lots here! They’re all nesting in my bloody roof 🙈🙈🙈

Plenty of sparrows here. I'm sitting in the garden with a brew watching them flit around the place.

I've a lovely song thrush too, competing with the blackbird for who can sing loudest.

We have a lovely little sparrow gang this year that has found the bird feeders in our garden, I love watching them. And I've let the hedge grow a bit wild and they love that too (I'm not just a lazy gardener honest!)

I'm glad there are lots of spugs (as they're known round here) because one flew into my windscreen this morning while I was doing 40 and I've been feeling wretched about it all day. RIP Spuggy.

We have our usual little family who nest in next door’s hedge, I think and come to feed and bathe in our garden. I’ve noticed more on our suburban walks than previous years. The goldfinches are around too and the Robin has succeeded in having offspring, despite his general unpleasant demeanor