Every year, the ants that nest underneath our back doorstep form a swarm of winged reproductives that fly off on a day in July.

We were surprised to find at least 10 House Sparrows perched all around the garden, and flying up catching ants. They were joined by a male Blackbird and a Robin. The Robin, the only insect specialist among them, had its beak full of insects. The nearest Sparrow in this photo is just below the doorstep where the ants are emerging: it was just a few feet from the camera.

We’ve never seen so many House Sparrows in our street. There is just one house nearby where they nest, and there are usually just two or three birds there. Maybe they had a large successful brood this spring. Whatever the case, they found the ants emerging very quickly; they whole flight took only a couple of hours, though we’d noticed increased (wingless) ant activity over the past few days.