Magpies
are an extremely common and much maligned bird over most of Northern
Europe. However, they do look quite good when the sun shines on them
and they are one of the few species smart anough and tough enough to
outwit and tease cats.
Love them or hate them, they are here to stay and they do have their
advantages. Some even occasioanlly show signs of migration - I've seen
them well up in the mountains way past their normal habitat and they
turn up on offshore islands too.
Magpie,Tjeldstø, November 2009 (DSLR + 400mm telephoto lens -
hand held)
The
long-winded English name is presumably meant to separate it from the
Yellow-billed Magpie which I saw in the parking lot of a factory in
California whilst indulging in some "smoke break birding".
Tjeldstø, February 2010
Fighting
Magpies - something these birds are notorious for. It is quite a
regular sight to witness several Magpies ganging up on a lone bird and
really beating it up
Nautnes, Øygarden, May 2014
AA life and death struggle that this
Magpie ultimately lost. Click on the image for more pictures of these
mud-wrestling birds. Tjeldstø, March 2012
