A FRIENDLY Magpie has set up home on a train station platform – sharing passengers snacks, landing on their heads or shoulders and even trying to jump onboard with them.
Maggie the Magpie is as cheeky as they come and has been livening up the day for thousands of commuters at Stourbridge Junction train station in Worcestershire.
She has befriended passengers and staff at Platform One of the station and doesn’t mind being stroked, sitting on peoples laps and happily rummages in ladies’ handbags.
And, when people pop their coins into the station’s ticket machine, Maggie sits on top and watches intently.
Line supervisor Steve Darby, 41, said: “We’re not sure if Maggie is a he or a she but we call her a she. The bird has become a daily visitor over the last couple of weeks.
“Maggie’s very friendly and I’ve seen her on all three platforms, sometimes on people’s heads, sitting by them and eating their food.
“The other night I was cleaning at about 9pm and Maggie flew on to an elderly lady’s lap and she was stroking the bird.”
“Nothing seems to faze Maggie.
“If she’s by the platform when a train comes she moves back towards the railings – but she doesn’t fly off.
“And when I saw her on the lady’s lap she was there for quite a time – and the woman seemed to enjoy it.”
Train driver Debbie Digger, 47, said: “One day I saw Maggie land on a chap’s shoulder and share his sandwich.
“Then she tried to jump on to the train. She’s just part of the crew here now.”
Rail staff believe that Maggie was an orphan who was taken in and raised by a local couple who have an aviary in one of the houses backing on to the car park of the station.
And the bird now spends her days happily flitting between their garden and her fans at the train station.
So now passengers can while away the time as they wait with a spot of bird – as well as train – spotting.
Stourbridge Junction station engineer Gary Picken said: “I’ve seen Maggie helping herself to sandwiches and going into bags to see what’s there.”
One passenger Alex Cairns, 17, of Blakedown, Worcs, was sitting on a bench waiting for a train home after a session at a local gym, when Maggie landed next to him.
“I thought ‘whoa, what’s happening?’ – and it was a bit odd,” said Alex, a sixth form student.
“At first I thought it was going to peck me but it was just friendly and eating the crisps.”
Spokesman Hayley Meachin, of London Midland, which runs Stourbridge Junction station, said today: “We have a wealth of wildlife around our stations because of where they are and the fact that they are open.
“On Saturday our staff at Gravelly Hill station in Birmingham had to deal with a four foot long grass snake on a ramp – and on June 26 a dog hopped on the 9.19 Four Oaks to Redditch train and was taken off by the RSPCA at New Street.
“Maggie seems to be unique because she’s so tame – but, like other magpies, she has the characteristic of being curious.
“It may be alarming to suddenly have a bird sat next to you – but it’s not dangerous.”
NewsToday UK
