A high chorus of panic flooded into the lounge. I ran out to see what had bothered the chickens. Two crows sit on the grass and eat the top layer mesh. I was surprised. I had not seen crows here before. As I pulled the sliding door, the crows shot into the tall gum trees. Then they split and one stayed beyond the fence and kept talking to the other in the gum tree. It was only then, I realised they had built a nest. Over the weeks and months, one crow would venture into the backyard to snap bits of food. At one point there were three of them. Now the third had left. The remaining two worked in a team, one stayed at bay and talked loudly while one approached the house to shop. They both tended to keep their distance from any humans, but one was always braver.

And just like that, a confident thief in a black suit, one crow marched towards the house one hot day. I stayed in the kitchen and watched. Without touching the duck nor chickens’ food bowls, the crow came under the house and picked up a slice of bread and flew into the trees and over and beyond. I watched the crow circle above our property and my two neighbour’s houses and returned to our backyard where it met the second crow on an old gum tree.

On this spot, where the gum had lost all its leaves, the crows shared their slice of bread in silence while the chickens and the ducks watched. I believe the chooks were kicking themselves for missing that slice of bread.