No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

Our weather here is odd. Those Moors at Bodmin somehow separate us from the weather of the rest of the country. The UK is full of snow, a foot, two foot, more in Scotland probably. Cornwall, the west anyway, is snow free. Whenever it snows it gets warmer and it melts and only partly settles. But it freezes. This morning the roads were covered in black ice. All melted by home time, leaving water everywhere to freeze again.

So this time of year is hard on the wildlife. I imagine in the rest of the country, they are really struggling. It is easier here I think but still tougher than they are used to.

Every day I observe magpies. I have a thing about them anyway. Each lunch time I sit in my car, talk to F, eat and read. And I watch them. They walk along the bank, hunting for food. They skulk around the smoking area (I can see them in my mirrors).

Very occasionally I give them some food. Last time I did, the cheeky bird took all of it, lining them up in his beak and then flew further up the bank and buried them, a little stash.... So I know my friends are well prepared but...

Today I was sat watching them. They were absent from the bank and then the pair of them swopped in. And the magpie sat on the bank next to my car and looked at me. And I knew what it wanted, I knew it was asking nicely, hoping. I knew it remembered and recognised me.

I had already eaten my bread but I had some coconut macaroons and threw out a few chunks for them. And with that, I feel as if I have struck some sort of bargain with them. I have agreed to help them survive this hard, hard winter.

I have no idea if the magpie sees me as a free meal, if it sees me as a friend, but I don't think it is scared of me. It sits within a few feet now although it's mate is less bold. I remember reading that if a magpie looks you in the eye it means they respect you. I also remember reading that magpies are the only bird that passes the mirror test, they recognise themselves and know the world is reversed. They are very, very clever. The cleverest of birds.....

And they got me sussed.

(my titles always come to me and on the whole I like them, that one came very quick and implies I get something from this feeding.... and I do, I get to watch these beautiful birds close up....)