Scarlett and I spent some time yesterday watching the birds in the garden. She is very interested at the moment as my eldest daughter has put up a nest box near their kitchen window and Scarlett is very excited as to what may nest in it. We had Great Tits nesting in a nest box in our garden last year but sadly during the first lockdown Scarlett didn't come round so missed it all. We also had a thrush nesting in the hedge at the end of the garden and I really hope they may return but as a new house is being built adjacent to the hedge I doubt it. One thing we did notice was a pair of magpies busily picking up sticks and carrying them into the cherry tree at the end of the garden. Scarlett spent a long time with a pair of binoculars studying them very seriously. I have mixed feelings about the magpies nesting. I think they may scare off the smaller birds from the garden but of course they have the right to nest some where. The other thing that puts me off is that at our old house, every year we had a pair of magpies nesting and they were the worst bird parents in the world!
Each year they successfully brooded a nest of chicks and then appeared to abandon them the second they left the nest. The worst year was when they decided to nest in out chimney. As each chick left the nest it dropped down our chimney into the living room and flew around spreading years of old soot all around the room. Youngest son remembers in horror the young magpie that flew across the room and hit him squarely on the head as he ran in fear towards the door at eight years old. Another one got wedged behind the chimney breast in our bedroom and I spent an entire day chipping away the brickwork to free the poor thing. Tom came home from work to discover a hole in the wall and a fledgling magpie covered in soot sitting in the tree outside our house. We had to buy and antique fire place and spend days fitting it to repair all the damage.
They returned every year to give us one problem after another. Wedged behind the freezer, the shed and the old outside toilet they found their way everywhere. An elderly neighbour told us they had nested in the tree in our garden for years and always returned. I'm slightly concerned this is the first year magpies have nested in our garden here and it may lead to them coming back year after year. Apparently they never migrate and always stay in their area. It is rare for a magpie to travel more than 10 miles from where they hatched. I know we will get attached to them and get involved in their hatching. I just hope this pair, if they remain, are a bit more parentally experienced than the pair at our old house! I'll keep them monitored.
When thinking of magpies there is always one song that comes into my mind. For anyone who remembers fondly the 1960s and 70s children's TV programme Magpie. Here is a trip down memory lane.
