Magpies

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 Magpies are not regular visitors to our garden but we do see them from time to time. This bird bucks the trend and is a recent success story with numbers having quadrupled in the UK in the last 35 years (especially in suburban areas). These birds eat just about anything and one of the factors in the increase in numbers is thought to be the amount of "road kill" as these birds will happily eat carrion.


Magpies are another member of the corvid family  but you could not confuse it with anything else. These are territorial birds and they are rarely found more than 10km from the nest where they were born. They prefer to nest in trees but are very adaptable and will nest on the ground if there are no other suitable sites.

Diary Notes
More action from the female sparrowhawk. A curlew heard calling this morning. The weather continues to be bad. Wind gusts of up to 65 mph last night with torrential rain. There are flooded areas in the fields this morning. A flock of about 20 wood pigeon in the orchard this morning.
Another disappointing night with the camera traps - all sensible creatures were obviously staying out of the rain.
Our pond was very full today.



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