Magpie family life

 

Magpie having a bad-feather day. We’ve had a couple of dismal days recently, with incessant heavy rain from dawn to dusk, and the magpie family (two parents plus three fledglings) have been taking turns to perch on the TV aerial and shelter under the eaves of the house. They shake the rain from their waterlogged plumage, preen for a while, then head out into the garden again to search for food - mostly worms and small soil invertebrates from our neighbours’ lawns..

 

The fledglings are still mercilessly harassing their parents for food ….

Feed me! First magpie fledgling of 2026

 The first fledging of the year in the garden yesterday - a very demanding magpie, with two harassed parents that were feeding it with worms and insect larvae collected from our neighbour's lawn. 

Looks like these birds have only fledged one offspring this spring, but they have been battling with crows and squirrels that have been predating their eggs and nestlings. Usually they raise two or three fledglings in their spring brood.

Magpies in a sudden fall of snow

Earlier this week we had what I hope will be the last fall of snow before spring gets into its stride. It only lasted for a few hours, but for a while it created scenes of great beauty, transforming the bare crowns of the little oak wood at the end of the garden into a lacy tracery of white twigs. 

 

Snow provides a wonderful foil for the pied plumage of magpies. The pair below are attempting to nest again (see earlier post) but are being constantly harassed by crows that want to build in the same tree.

For a few hours the snowfall was a reminder of the stark beauty of the winter landscape.

The thaw set in overnight and now the magpies are back in the garden, collecting twigs for nest building.

Crows versus Magpies

 

Magpies have nested at the bottom of our garden annually for about twenty years. Until last year they returned every spring to the massive heap of sticks in the centre of an old hawthorn, which was well hidden. Last year they built a new one in a fast-growing Norway maple, about ten feet higher than their previous nest and very exposed to potential predators. A pair of magpies have been standing guard over the nest since late December, but now it looks as though they are being evicted by carrion crows.

A single crow turned up yesterday morning, pecking at twigs in the nest and evidently rearranging them for its own comfort. It provoked a furious and very noisy reaction from the magpies.

The magpies made a lot of fuss but never approached within pecking range of the crow's beak.

Then the crow started calling and within a couple of minutes its mate turned up, provoking more fury from the magpies.

So it seems that the pair of crows have taken over. The magpies are still loitering, but the crows came back this morning. It will be interesting to see how this conflict develops, and who will lay eggs in the nest.