My Magpies Missing, Maybe?

Every year, the same pair of magpies nests atop my bedroom roof. They raise their eggs and I get to see the chick’s initial flights, taking place from my roof to the neighbour’s.

 

They are unusual for magpies. They’ve successfully raised two broods in several non-consecutive years (magpies only usually attempt another brood if the first failed). But it’s their lack of chatter that is most noticeable. It’s only once their eggs hatch (or when they raid the nests of the nearby pigeons or songbirds) that the magpies have anything to say.

 

The neighbours throw their excess food into the garden for all the animals. Most gobble it up on the spot. The magpies, though, will wash this food in the neighbour’s drain (they don’t mind soggy chips!) Unless it’s snails, the magpies don’t wash other food items. So the food that comes from the dirty soil doesn’t need decontaminating but the food coming from the hygienic kitchens does need a clean!

 

The majority of the local birds nest in the fir tree. Tall with deep, tightly-packed branches, the fir tree offers the perfect, protected spot for birds to nest. In theory. The magpies land, chatter, then hop into the depths of the trees. They often hit the same nest, once those birds have retried with a new clutch of eggs. (The magpies fly in to check on the progress.)

 

The very first year I heard them land on the roof had me in a panic. when they land, the magpies skip along the roof, claws clacking on and scraping along the roof tiles. My initial, panicked thought was that there were rats in the attic! (I don’t dislike rats but I don’t want something that’s been in a sewer touching or gnawing my stuff. Or feel guilty for calling pest control.) It was only when I saw the magpie land and heard the noise at the same time that I knew the truth. Was grateful for that truth.

 

This year, however, the magpies that have come by are not the same. These ones are thinner, shorter, louder. Their tail feathers are far longer. They’re clearly younger individuals. (I know they aren’t this year’s brood because they arrived before laying eggs.) These ones have also been bombarded by crows, acting a lot more skittish than the confident magpies I had before. So maybe my magpies are missing? Perhaps, as they’ve been with me for many years, maybe they’ve died. Nature moves on.