(Picture of magpie nest by mdahlem.net saved from Pinterest.)

Story ideas are in our everyday lives and spring time and birds go together for me. Today the magpies’ songs reminded me of bird stories I have told.

One year the nesting magpies needed help. When the babies were ready to fly two successfully flew to another tree, but the third had its leg caught so that it was suspended upside down under the nest which was high up in a gum tree. It was someone from a tree lopping service who came with a cherry picker to rescue the little bird, and a volunteer from WIRES raised it until it could be returned here.

Sometimes I find a nest that has fallen to the ground and I have saved one to interest children in my story groups. For the magpie story I made little clay eggs to go in a basket nest with magpie puppets. I set the nest in some gum leaves. I had taken a photo of the man and his cherry picker and the tiny bird he so kindly rescued for me and that was of particular interest to the children.

Have you ever held a bird in your hands? Perhaps you have left seeds for the birds or have taken a picture of birds in your garden. Have you rescued a bird from a cat or found one that had crashed into a window? Think about the birds in your life and I’m sure you will have a story to share with a child you know.