These babies scream "feed me, feed me" nonstop. If they are not screaming it is because the poor beleaguered parent is stuffing food down their cavernous gullets, or because the baby is too busy pecking the parent in the back to scream. Can you imagine having to find food for three gaping maws?
But they are funny. And loud. I have eight baby magpies and they are clowns. They are so big, but oh, so clumsy. Yet, like all babies, you can observe them change on a daily basis. For example, you can see them learn to maneuver in the air and watch as their landings become more graceful. Although I must admit, it is fun to watch them overshoot the branch and frantically flail around for a new landing.
Here is the surprise. Last evening as I was walking down the hallway, as usual I checked the back yard for birds. I was stopped in my tracks by two baby magpies making friends with a young buck. You can see his antlers are still wrapped in velvet.
The deer seemed unconcerned about his riders.
And the magpies mized around in his fur pulling out stuff to eat for about ten minutes. I was glued to the window.
They seem to be watching something--perhaps the dog on the other side of the fence?
Hope he was eating ticks!
I really wanted the maggie to land on his antlers, but no such luck. Nevertheless, my windows provide a great deal of entertainment on a daily basis. I love it.
And one more surprise of the day? It was a personal surprise. I may already be a weird cat lady, but today found me emulating a weird bird lady.
There was a road kill squirrel in the middle of the road in front of my house. One of the wonderful things about magpies is they clean up road kill in a hurry. Except this time, it was babies working on the carcass. They don't have sense enough to get out of the way of cars. I couldn't believe it when I found myself moving the carcass to the side of the road where the magpies could eat it safely. Sometimes I wonder about me.
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