One party magpie’s Mission Possible...

MY hUSBAnD and I had eaten ‘alfresco’. I put the remains of our meal on the food station. We have lots of wildlife visitors and nothing goes to waste.

As we sat enjoying the evening sun, a magpie swooped down. With stealth, he hopped along the fence and ducked down behind the bird table (the theme of Mission Impossible came to mind). Skipping across the path, he jumped onto the food table, snatched the remains of a pork chop and then flew off. A moment later he returned. no stealth this time. Straight to the table, grabbing a beak full of pasta, he flew off again. While my husband and I were looking at each other bemused, he again came back, this time snatching a beak full of lettuce and a slice of tomato. By this time we were laughing. Is he having a barbecue of his own, my husband wondered? We put him out a glass of beer to round the meal off.

The following morning all of the remnants of our meal were gone. hubby quipped: ‘Well, by the look of that I should have put out a four-pack’!

Angie Morris, Evesham, Worcs.