I’ve always had a fondness for magpies. Whether this is because they are one of the easiest garden birds to identify or whether it is because I lived in Newcastle upon Tyne for several ears, I’m not quite sure. They seem to attract hostility from many people – either due to various superstitions (which appear to be complete nonsense) or the fact that they attack other birds (which is presumable nature at work). However, I have noticed magpies doing something rather useful in our garden.
The grass in our lawn has been thick with moss ever since we moved in. Initially I put this down to a lack of light from the leylandii trees in the hedge but this has continued even after they were removed. I’ve tried a few things to encourage the grass but in the main strategy I have used is spreading moss killer and lawn feed together. When doing this the lawn is meant to be finely raked to remove the dead moss. This is a real back-breaking job to do and it tends to leave holes in the lawn where the grass comes away with the moss. Overall, it’s not my favourite task.
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been finding clumps of moss on the lawn – usually appearing a couple of days after it is cut. I’ve been a bit puzzled about this – partly because I haven’t done anything to it and partly because it was such a neat job: the moss has been neatly plucked out leaving the grass intact. It was only yesterday when I looked out into the garden that I noticed two magpies meticulously plucking away at the moss. I’m not sure whether they eat this or use it as nest lining but they are doing a pretty good job of de-mossing the entire lawn for me.
I have considered buying a mechanical lawn raker but they are quite expensive. I’m wondering whether I would be better off with a flock of magpies?
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