July 17, 2011

Magpies of the night

The other night I went to bed quite late, around 1pm. Lying in the darkness and silence I heard Magpies warbling away. They were beautiful haunting songs, not cries of alarm, but thoughtful and melodic tunes - very different from the songs that mark the rising of the sun. I thought it strange that they were singing in the middle of the night and wondered if it were a full moon, if something had happened to my local family of magpies that they could not rest, or if it were a special night of celebration? (this reminded me of a story my Dad told me of one morning noticing spider webs covering everything - signs, trees, cars, etc - then hearing that the previous night was the yearly occurrence of spider migration).
The next day, while having a coffee with my son in a cafe a few suburbs away, I heard a woman telling the barista of hearing Magpies singing all night long. It seemed it happened all over our area. I am not sure why they were singing but it seems it was a magical magpie night.

Sera Waters

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