I’m a bit late to this week’s party (Tracy’s Corvid-2020 Challenge – Week 9), but nevertheless here I am with another small tribute to the winged creatures that provided me with entertainment over two months of lockdown. It doesn’t seem fair to ignore them, now that we can carefully venture out again. Not that anyone could actually ignore these particular neighbours, the magpies…
It’s amusing to notice how they’re getting bolder and bolder, shamelessly taking over the garden. I have a feeling that soon they’ll be chasing us, humans, away as well.
You’d think a lazy tomcat taking his nap would be safe… well, not quite. I’m not exactly a cat person, but I couldn’t help feeling slightly sorry for him – tail bitten several times, he had to finally get up and leave in search of a quieter, friendlier spot. Since that was no isolated incident – any cat stopping by gets attacked – I can only hope the constantly on the offense magpies have become parents. But whatever their reasons, they’re both hilarious and impressive, forming a formidable power couple. Relentless bullies, they never seem to give up harassing their neighbours, even the crows who generally win the battle.
Forgive the quality of the photos, they were taken in a rush and the subjects weren’t exactly still and cooperative. And if you think I managed not to incur the magpies’ wrath… well, while one of them generally ignores me, the other one clearly doesn’t like the paparazzi, and has no problem making itself heard. Yes, I did get the occasional evil looks and verbal abuse to go with it, when my clicking was becoming too disruptive.
I just love the magpie, so much swag and confidence! Great series of photos.
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I love them too, they’re amazing creatures.
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Those magpies certainly have attitude, in addition to their beautiful coloring.
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They certainly do. 🙂
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And in South Africa it is still autumn :). Hi Ana those are brave birds or a vert timid cat
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Hi, Abrie. Neighbourhood cats are certainly having a tough time this spring, I’ve seen a couple of crows displaying similar behavior 😀
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Great shots of your cat holding his ground against the magpie. I’ve had one magpie recently returned to my garden after an absence of a while. They are beautiful but uncomfortably large in a small space and a bit close to home.
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I can see why they’d be troublesome in a small space. Fortunately, we have some bigger trees in the our building’s garden, so there’s plenty of space for all the birds. 🙂
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Not too late at all, Ana. If I was a magpie chick, I would love parents like that. How startling to see the magpies turn the tables on those cats. They were probably impressing on the cats that outside was for exercise only, while the cats were probably thinking that they were there for grocery shopping. 🙂
By the way, the sheen on those birds is just gorgeous.
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I’m with you, they’d be great parents, I’m curious to see if they show up with a young one in the near future. 🙂 And the black cat did have that “I’m shopping for a prime piece of meat” look, not just taking a nap like the other one… so better safe than sorry. I have yet to figure out why they bully the sparrows, though. 🙂
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They did well to move that cat on. Poor sparrows. For them I have some sympathy. 🙂
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Yes, they’re harmless. 🙂
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Hahah – poor cat!
And so many magpies are rise birds around here –
And not sure why – but my husband’s grandparents despised this bird in the 90s
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My great-grandmother hated them too. They stole her newly hatched chickens, she said. That would be reason enough in the countryside, I think, but I suspect there also were some superstitions connected to these birds.
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Hahaha – fun story and it was nice to see your captures –
The way you set up the post was a bit of an experience shared with you via the post
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