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Sparrows and Butterflies

There is a debate running on the Internet and in the scientific press about the reason for the disappearance of sparrows from the large cities of the UK. A strong likelihood is that they are not able to find enough insects for their young in the first few days of life and without them the young don't survive.

In the last day or so it struck me that I haven't seen any butterflies for a long time and I expect that caterpillars are taken by sparrows for their young. Could there be a connection there?

One possibility being discussed for the disappearance of sparrows is the pollution caused by unleaded fuel for cars which may have harmed insect life. Perhaps that has eliminated large numbers of caterpillars. Budleias usually have a lot of butterflies on them in the summer but in the last couple of evenings in Ringstead, Northamptonshire, for example, I saw a few budleias but I didn't see one butterfly. I don't remember seeing any butterflies this year in my garden here in Market Harborough either.

This is a question for wildlife experts who know more about fluctuations in butterfly populations. Some imformation on the possible effects of the weather would be a good place to start.

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