Surprise Breakfast Guest

It was another humid start to a mid-January day in Brisbane. I was at home sitting at my kitchen table surveying my few surviving pot plants through the open front door while eating my muesli. As I was finishing my second spoonful, a magpie walked onto my patio. I coughed, which caught the magpie’s attention. He turned towards me, cocking his head from side to side. “Good morning, magpie,” I said.

It walked to my open door and stopped at the entrance, cocking its head as it looked up towards me. After a short time, it curiously entered the room, stopping to briefly examine each item as it walked past.

I returned to my breakfast, scooping a spoonful of muesli into my mouth. Noticing my action, the brazen bird flew up onto the table and stood looking up at me and my breakfast. Without warning, it picked out the largest raisin from my bowl and then stared beadily at me. Are you laughing at me or thanking me? I wondered, before letting out an amused “Hey!”

Startled, the magpie jumped to the floor with the raisin held firmly in its beak and hopped out the front door, before flapping its wings and flying away.