A just-fledged blackbird flew into my window yesterday.
It fell to the ground, stunned.
I guess blackbird nature doesn’t yet include hard transparent surfaces.
Call that one for nurture.
The blackbird sat on the ground, panting,
Looking at me,
To see which one of us was the most confused.
The blackbird opened its mouth.
Nature again.
Feed me, its instincts seemed to be saying, feed me.

A magpie flew by, screeched to a halt on a nearby branch.
Feed me, its instincts seemed to be saying, feed me.
The blackbird didn’t move.
Through the window, I tried to shoo the magpie away.
The magpie looked at me,
One for sorrow,
The magpie looked at the still not moving young blackbird.
Two for joy.
Two more blackbirds arrived on the scene.
On male, one female. Two parents.
They started shouting,
Hassling the magpie.
The magpie kept right on looking at the young blackbird.
Trying to work out its best strategy.
The two adult blackbirds kept shouting.
I wasn’t sure whether they were trying to scare the magpie,
Or tell their scatterling to move,
But it just sat there, looking confused.
It flapped its wings,
But nothing happened.
It got onto its feet, and tried to run for cover,
But nothing happened.
The noise got louder.

A robin turned up.
It landed directly between the young blackbird and the magpie.
And started shouting too.

This prompted the arrival of a sparrow.
It landed next to the young blackbird,
Kept flapping its wings, ‘like this’, dummy, ‘like this’.

The noise kept getting louder.
Two blackbirds, a robin and a sparrow all shouting at the magpie,
Shouting at the young blackbird to do something. Anything.

The young blackbird, looked at me again,
Looked at the chaos,
Finally decided, time to get out of here,
This place is mad.
Started flapping its wings,
Started running for cover.
The magpie twitched.
The robin and the sparrow formed a wall.
The magpie twitched.
The young blackbird dived into the undergrowth.
The robin and the sparrow high-fived.
The magpie shrugged its shoulders,
You win some you lose some.
Three species against one, you probably lose.