Oh no that's just terrible. I am always so worried about bloody magpies when nestlings have just hatched. There was a gorgeous little blackbird I called 'Speckle' who grew up in my garden- she's what got me started with feeding the blackbirds raisins, and when she grew up she built a nest in our garden. However, being young and inexperienced it wasn't successful and magpies got it while I was at school one day (this was years ago but I still remember how upsetting it was). We have quite a lot of magpies around as there is a copse just across the road that's very overgrown and wild. Whenever I hear the blackbirds alarm calls I too run out to try and scare the magpies away: I clap loudly at them, yell even (neighbours must think I am crazy, especially as I sit chatting to the blackbirds when I'm in the garden too, hehee), and shake a jar of coins as the loud noise scares them. But I can't run out early in the morning as I'd wake my parents- I would if I could though- horrid magpie cackling woke me up early this morning and I am sure they were on our roof... I just could not relax, I stood at the bathroom window with the window wide open watching the bush that the nest is in to make sure no magpies were getting close to it. God I HATE them. I can tolerate upsetting things in nature like hawks taking birds even though it's really upsetting coz I know the hawks have also got to eat and take care of their young, but what I really hate is things like magpies and cats that just kill. Although magpies sometimes eat the eggs, right? But when the magpies got Speckle's nest they just killed all the chicks and left them laying there... that is just senseless loss to me!
Once, when a dunnock built a nest in those same conifers a couple of years after, I was really worried... I saw once in an RSPB magazine a big balloon thing with a hideous face like an owl crossed with a clown painted on it, that said it scared away magpies. I wanted one but couldn't find one and didn't have that magazine, so I bought the next best thing... a sort of balloon thing with 'hair' filled with... squishy stuff, bright yellow with a smiley face... and I hung it on the washing line near the nest. I dunno if it worked at scaring off the magpies or whether it was just lucky this time that they didn't find the nest... but it didn't affect any other garden birds.
When you say dead bodies all over the place... they killed the parents too? If so I am not leaving my garden as I will be just too worried for my special blackbirds!! I'd hate them to die in such an awful way. They come to my doorstep for raisins and the male, Cresty (coz he fluffs up his feathers on his head like a little crest when his mate flies down on to the garden by him) even followed me into the kitchen! I love them. There must be a way to deter magpies from visiting the garden... maybe a home made magpie scarer thing using a balloon and a scary face! Or even the shape of a hawk or something... though I wouldn't wanna scare off the parent birds as well!
edit: Wow, I realised I had a weakness for elipses... I just didn't realise quite... how much!
