Days

Today has had rolling rain clouds threatening to shed their load mixed with lighter patches where tiny daggers of sunshine have tried desperately to cut their way through the grey cloak. I tackled the bird table sorting out the mixtures of seeds, nuts and mealworms in the hope of enticing the robin to bob in a little closer. My little task of placing out the food for the birds was interrupted by the cat rubbing around my legs .. she wanted some more food too and was fervently reminding me of the fact that she had eaten her early breakfast an hour-and-a-half ago and was eager for more.

Where would we be without windows? When looking at animals or birds we often see more whilst being hidden behind glass than we can ever see from a front seat situation. I had placed extra bread on the lawn. A rather bedraggled and battered looking magpie crept up to a piece and pulled it back eating it hidden under one of the wooden chairs. I started to feel sorry for this elderly looking bird .. then a starling flew down and began to peck at the breadcrumbs .. it called out and all of a sudden half the lawn was covered with a flock of starlings. Like a bullet, the magpie shot out from its hiding place and put out its claws like those of an eagle. It pounced onto a starling and squeezed its claws tightly as though it were clinging onto a branch. Then it proceeded to hammer its beak into the body of the starling. Somehow, the starling wriggled free and floppily bounced backwards and forwards on the grass then it took flight up into the branches of a pear tree quickly followed by the magpie. The starling somehow got away .. I don’t know how badly it was injured. I never knew that magpies could be quite so vicious and dangerous – it left me speechless!

 

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Country Quips:

• Even the smallest of jobs will extend to fill up the longest of days.