Reservoir Dogs
As I sit down to my computer two things distract me. The first are the notifications that ding and appear at the corner of the screen and the other, the family of five plus one magpies singing their warble at my open door. I choose to turn off the notifications as they are challenging my ability to concentrate. Florida State researchers in 2015 gave us the data for what many of us already knew; knowing we have received a call or message is almost as distracting as talking on the phone - yikes! The magpies they can stay, they are offering me something a little different to a distraction, an opportunity to learn. By now two named Silver and SG are perched on my desk while the others are looking around for food left by the children. SG will soon toddle off and Silver will remain, he likes to hang out; sometimes in quiet and sometimes sharing his latest repertoire of sounds, his mimicry. His most recent sound a barking dog! The quality of engagement we have had with the magpies far exceeds many human relationships and for this reason alone they have become a very significant part of our day. Though this is a relatively recent influence in our life.
How I share the story of the magpies is a tricky one to begin, because as with our own life it is often hard to tell a story without offering back up knowledge or stories from an earlier event or parallel influences. I'll try for when we first met the family.
This family of magpies, named Reservoir Dogs by the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Western Australia captured our attention when we moved into their territory two years ago (at that time we had no idea they were part of extensive research). Upon reflection they did not capture our attention, there was no welcome ceremony or rising of flags, they were doing as magpies always do. The difference was we chose to observe. We would allow them to land on the chair instead of shooing them away. We would spend ten minutes watching their rituals instead of rushing to clean up. We would open discussion to family and friends and share research information instead of being ignorant of their behaviours. All in all we were offering our time and in exchange we were receiving powerful messages and adopting much needed lifestyle changes. The magpies were giving my family a reason to be still and observe nature. When was the last time you afforded your family time to be still and observe nature?