The song of the magpie will haunt you as you embark on this journey with me. A baby magpie was found in the grounds of the monastery (just after we came out of the building). There were birds frantic in the tree tops as a hawk was feasting on their young.  At the base of a tall tree stood the little bird. For the first few moments he appeared fearless; however, I could see that his heart was pounding. I knew he wore a cloak of bravery as he remained still even when I got very close to him. The bird’s sibling nearby, did not survive the fall. 

I could see no parents in sight! I wondered what had happened, because magpies are aggressive in nature and can defend their young very well (little birds have to protect their young from them). The trees were very tall and the nest was very high up; however, I was sure that a hawk nearby could have encouraged the free-fall.

So there I was, crouched down, eye to eye with this baby magpie.  I took a picture and started filming as well. The bird remained perfectly still. He seemed to know that he would be rescued and loved. Perhaps he already knew the outcome and was waiting for the rescuer to realize it. I told my friends that we couldn’t leave him there as his parents were gone and the hawk was still around. Therefore, one of my friends tenderly picked him up and we made our way back to the car.

We tried to think of a name for the bird and after discussion, “Benny Monk” was the end result (St. Benedict for Benny, and the monk we spoke to). We stopped at a few places on the way home and, as you can tell from the video (towards the end of the trip), he adjusted well to human companionship.

Life offers its many symbols and lessons. I believe this was another one of those. 

Both birds fell out of the same nest but one was taken and the other wasn’t. Perhaps that has a symbolic sound to it. In my own words, one was taken to a peaceful place, and the other was taken westward bound.

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