A welcome and popular part of the Sri Ratu scene are our sparrows, flittering, bustling, feeding, nesting and attending to avian business like sparrows do in most of the world.
As previously mentioned, Bonkin' Brian is still attending to his matutinal stud duties although from recent on-forum reports, this lucky lad should, if judged on results, be renamed Cracker-7-Sparrow. Whatever his name, his nature remains unchanged ; he can be relied upon to attend to his harem between 0700 and 0930, sparrow-time. Maybe this lad is beginning to become bored with his duties because, recently, he has been seen to reject females lining up for seconds. Is there a Sparrow Viagra about the place?
It seems that on cloudy or rainy days, the full harem will not appear until 0800 : on fine days, however, they are in full twitter by 0700. They really appreciate toast of a morning, preferring it semi-done, not too brown and not buttered if you please. They are a bit shy if that Bloody old Ginger Tom is around, though.
Mr.Masadi the owner of Sri Ratu is a sparrow fancier of a different type, albeit a lover of birds of all kinds. From the cliffs of Java, he has imported that special breed from whose nests, birds' nest soup, that highly desirable Chinese delicacy is concocted. In case you would like to know about this delicacy, it is the spit with which their nests are bound together that is the prime ingredient, decocted by boiling the complete nest, I believe.
No more need Mr. Masadi rely upon Javanese dare-devils climbing up or down over-hanging cliffs, hanging hundreds of metres above the coast of Java to obtain 'walet', the local name for this delicacy. In nearby Tabanan, he has built an extensive hatchery, in the form of walls with holes in which his little friends may nest whilst they are cherished with the best of what they need to carry out their sparrowly duties, making their benefactor happy at the same time.
It seems not a bad life for a bird. A spot of inter-island travel, food and lodging provided and a job guaranteed upon arrival. No luggage, no Imigrasi problems, no Customs rubbing thumb and fore-finger together, no transport problems and above all, no taxes to pay. Although we humans would like to be able to fly, I'm sure that these Bali sparrows, of either type, wouldn't change their lot for ours.