Good news, there was a juvenile robin on the patio yesterday. I’m convinced it’s from the nest in the hawthorn (no good reason, I just want it to be). Fortunately, there hasn’t been too much magpie activity in the garden (our only regular chick eater), there’s been no shortage of magpies, they just haven’t been in the garden – perfect.
Don’t get me wrong, I like magpies, they’re smart looking birds and they rattle with attitude. I’ve noticed a couple of ‘SOS’ car stickers around Leeds. SOS stands for Save Our Songbirds, an unpleasant campaign or organisation that promotes the destruction of corvids, like magpies, and birds of prey, under the guise of protecting the ‘songbirds’ whose chicks they eat. In reality, it’s gamekeepers, pigeon fanciers and the gullible, trying to put a respectable front on killing for their own benefit. I say 'campaign or organisation' because I don’t know which it is. Try searching for it or them on the internet, there isn’t even a website. Strange.
Magpies can be predators, live with it. Magpie numbers respond to prey (songbird) numbers, not the other way round. High magpie numbers is good, it means that songbird numbers must also be high, and vice versa. The percentage of chicks eaten will always be about the same. Songbird numbers are more affected by loss of suitable habitat.
At work, a couple of weeks ago, I was looking out of the window and counted 18 magpies on the field. Every time I see magpies I subconsciously say the rhyme, even though I only know as far as ‘4 for a boy’. Maybe it’s ‘18 for a successful breeding season’.
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