A Newly Regular Visitor

When I left home, after growing up on a Manchester council estate, I could recognise sparrows, blackbirds, and starlings: and that was it; there were no other birds (except for budgies). These days, a female green woodpecker can come into the back garden every morning to worry away at what must be the larvae of some leatherjackets (or some such) and I barely turn a hair. Last summer, we were sat in the garden under a tree and a sparrowhawk came and killed a sparrow right above our heads. Nature in the raw used to mean alsatians which were never kept on leads and were allowed to roam the estate day and night. This year I'm already watching out for the swans on their way to their winter homes. My 20 year old self would not recognise what I have changed into.