Wednesday, February 1, 2012

"Junior"

Maggie and Billy Bob - our resident magpies - have a youngster now. "Junior" has been out of the nest for some time, and I think that Maggie and Billy Bob wish he was back in it; he never gives them a moment's peace.

And here he is (right):

He's nearly the same size as the adults - a little bit thinner-looking and darker, and with a slightly "pouty" look about him.

We always know when he's around. He follows his Mum and Dad pretty closely, with an insistent, whiney call - reminding them that he's hungry.

And he's ALWAYS hungry.

Morning, noon, and evening - Maggie and Billy Bob are busy hunting food for their fledgling, working desperately to satisfy his bottomless pit. We see the family in our yard several times a day, and when I'm out on my morning walks I find them all around the neighborhood hunting for anything that might make a snack for Junior.

Here he is cawing madly at Billy Bob, begging for whatever it is Billy Bob has just picked up:



And down the hatch!:



Junior is actually capable of feeding himself, provided he sees the food. Here he is, picking up a crust of bread. I love the look on Billy Bob's face - SHOCK!

The crust that Junior has (left) is a little too large, but he's capable of snipping of bits with his beak. Still, if he sees Billy Bob with something in HIS beak, Junior will walk right across the food in front of him to beg something from his dad.

We're getting a big kick out of watching the magpies rear their baby, but I have to admit that the early morning feedings are a bit of a pain. At the first crack of dawn we hear them landing on the roof above our bedroom - thumping down so hard that it sounds like cockatoos landing. We hear "thud.... thud..thud" as they hit, then the "clickclick" of their toenails on our corrugated roof, and finally the LOUD and insistent whinging from Junior (impossible to sleep through). Not exactly welcome at 6:00 a.m. ...

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