Standover Merchant.

Yes Sir! You want meat? Of course you can have meat.  

Just let me take a quick photo...

A 'thorn in the paw' moment.

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This is a magpie. Big chunky things, weigh about a kilo (couple of pounds). Sing beautifully and demand meat and scraps from us every morning.



This is our front fence.



The two have difficulty living together, it seems. This morning I found a juvenile magpie with its head stuck between the pickets. Not too sure how it happened; maybe it landed on the rounded tops and slipped off, going neck first between the pickets. He had scraped the top of its wing; you can see the blood on the fence.

The good news is that he (she?) seemed OK and flew off when released.

The question is, will it think of me as its rescuer, and perhaps one day rescue me from some marauding tiger, or will I become part of the problem, associated with the whole trauma?

A second magpie was sitting on the fence, watching the whole show so maybe he (she?) will put in a good word for me.
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Ozzie, the...Magpie?

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Spent a few days up the bush, visiting a farming friend.

Some of you may remember the photos of him looking after a baby kangaroo.

This time the kitchen was filled with the 'awking' sound of two baby magpies. This one, the younger of the two, was called Ozzie. Delighted in attacking toes. Mistaken for giant grubs or just mischied making?

Can't tell.
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