Thursday, September 23, 2010

My four boyfriends

As soon a they hear me get out of bed, they wait to greet me on the back lawn. They sing to me late into the night, roosted in the trees closest to my bedroom...I often hear them as late as 11pm and as early as 4.30am!! They follow me about everywhere I go on the property. They watch me through the big, sliding glass doors. And they sing, just for me! Sometimes their warbling sounds like an out-of-tune distant radio station, but mostly it's loud, full-throated warbling .. and they sound so pretty. They entice me to come outside and feed them with their wonderful singing. They must know the story of Odysseus & The Sirens, because I can't resist either. They always manage to lure me outside with scraps for them. They actually sit right near the sliding door singing to me (see pic far left) at various times throughout the day. I can see them watching for me through the glass. They know I will bring them slices of bread, chop bones ~ whatever I can find for them. They know they only have to sing and I am smitten! Two of them are mature males, yet they allow me to hand-feed them. A third is also now a mature male, but when I found him injured in the middle of a busy road he was just a fledgling. I couldn't leave him where he was ... the morontorists didn't care if they hit him or not. He is still very subordinate because I brought him into other male magpies' territory, but they now tolerate him. They steal the dogs' bones and they squabble over any scraps they find. All four of them arrive every afternoon around 5pm. They sit on the low branches of the grapevine and sing their hearts out because they know this is feed time for the other animals & I always have extras in my pockets for them. That they trust me enough to allow me to touch them is a real privilege, though I must admit that those strong male beaks up close can be a little disconcerting. They always mind their manners though :)
I have never seen their partners but I know they are feeding young. There's a huge, old, scrappy nest right in the top of one of the Salmon Gums. They come back to use it every year. Another pair has its nest at the very back of the property about thirty feet up in the branches of a Red Box tree.
All four of them spend hours together in the horse paddock hunting for insects and tapping on the ground for worms. They steal the chook's feed. They spread the horse manure about with those strong, snapping beaks and find all manner of bugs. They are diligent parents.
They watch our cats very warily - but so do we! No bird killing permitted here.
I'm aware they rely on me for water through the long, hot summer months so have placed a large concrete bird bath where I can watch them come every morning & evening for a drink and a cool bath in the water I put out fresh each day. There's a dark green plastic chair next to the bird bath where I sit on pretty Spring days. Sometimes one of them will land on the back of the chair & sing right into my ear. I am hoping I'll get to see their new babies when they fledge and that my boyfriends will continue to sing for their suppers.

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