magpie pica pica

Got this on the way back to the car after photographing the herons. We still have snow but not enough to cause any problems.

... but only just. :-)

We have a lot of them but they are not usually very cooperative.

Off to Budapest to celebrate someones 90th birthday tomorrow (my wife's sister's godmotherwho is something of a family matriarch and has written a book on the family history). People are coming from as far away as Australia. It shold be lots of fun even though I hardly speak a word of Hungarian...

Not really urban. rstafltet is a large area of fields and trees with allotments, a rugby pitch and a mini golf course among other things. It's also a good site for migrating birds and winter birds. It's surrounded by blocks of flats. There are currently plans to build on it.

Can't decide whether I like this or not. It landed just above me when I was trying to photograph a Bluethroat. It didn't see me but I didn't have a completely clear view. It's a bit different from my other Magpie pictures though.

The red-brown colour is the wall of a barn.

This magpie had worked out that, by kicking the tray, it could spill some peanuts on the ground and then eat them. What a clever bird!

The magpie is a very common bird in my area. Despite this I have very few photos with this bird. Today a magpie stood on road side, in a good light, and was kind enough to let me take some photos. This one is what I should call a decent photo.

This Magpie was eating parasites from the deer, it worked it's way along the back onto the head and paid special attention to the eyes and ears. The deer tipped it's head in various directions to make it easier for the Pie! When it was finished with one deer it then flew to the next until...