Country & Coast: Omens of good fortune for the hungry visitors to my garden

They are too clever, too hungry and perhaps too cute. I'm sure that I now have the biggest, fattest, and most well-fed and contented grey squirrels on the planet. Indeed, all attempts to make my bird-feeders squirrel-proof have failed miserably and so I now just welcome them in –and they bring their friends.

I'm quite looking forward to the time when we have the Siberian chipmunks that have colonised the Leeds area. I would guess we will have them in South Yorkshire in less than 20 years. They first came to fame by over-running the suburbs of Paris but in recent years have established in Yorkshire and are quickly spreading from Leeds area. Do let me know if you see one.

Another garden visitor that is not to everyone's liking is the magpie. I've had quite a few inquiries about large gatherings of magpies like I saw recently at the top of Meersbrook Park in Sheffield. Here these highly intelligent, gregarious but territorial birds established pair-bonds and a pecking order which is vital for survival. And of course they make a racket too.

The name "Magpie" comes from "Maggot-Pie", which sounds rather unpleasant. Banquo's ghost in Macbeth states that: "Augurs and understood relations have by maggot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth the secret'st man of blood".

Shakespeare's "Choughs" are actually Jackdaws and not the rare bird of Cornwall and Wales. Anyway, back to the origin of "Magpie". It comes from the French "Margot", short for "Marguerite", and meaning chattering like a talkative woman. Magpies have long been associated with superstition and with death with rhymes like: "One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy", and then a Scottish version with "Seven for the devil".

These generally refer to the bad luck or good luck in relation to a number of Magpies seen together. We used to "salute" the magpies to ward off the bad luck. Does anybody else remember doing that?

Dr Ian D. Rotherham, writer and broadcaster, directs the Geography, Tourism and Environment Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University.

[email protected]