The Cackling Corvids of Covid19

The cackling of magpies felt never ending this afternoon. It’s quite a grating noise that they can produce and I spotted 6 of them flying from tree to tree, roof to roof.

Unsure if it’s 3 pairs guarding their territory from each other, or a non-breeding flock. Either way, it brought back memories of my last home.

Wakey Wakey

Right outside the bedroom window, at the the front of our Tyneside Flat, was a tree that was home to some magpies. It became our summer alarm clock. Roughly 4am every morning there would either be an intruder being chased away or a hell of a domestic dispute.

And when I say right outside the window, I mean it. If the window would have opened just a little more, I could have reached out and grabbed the nest.

This is now all I can thing about when I hear that familiar cackling squawk.

I miss our old place from time to time and I miss being in the Ouseburn Valley, which is the place where I’ve felt most at home my whole life, but the ability to get full nights sleep here is unparalleled.