Vicky's baby out of the nest.

My telescope is in our breakfast room pointed at Vicky's nest, and when I looked this morning, no baby to be seen! This called for a trip across the fields to visit the nest.

When I arrived, Vicky magpie flew down to greet me, and I gave her some bread and cheese. Vicky is not a very frequent singer (Maggie likes singing more than Vicky), but she sang a short song to say hello. Then she collected some small pieces and flew into the nest tree. I could hear a very faint magpie baby call. I finally discovered it was coming from the other side of the tree, a considerable distance below the nest - maybe more than half way to the ground. Bub is looking very fit and healthy, although much smaller than Billie's babies, who have been out of the nest for quite a while now. But it has very strong looking legs.

Bub ate a tiny piece of food, and then Vicky and Mindy (last year's bub, who must have been nearby somewhere) flew away, leaving me alone with the new bub. Our magpies always take some opportunity to show by demonstration that they trust us with their babies. Last year also they left us on guard with the bubs while the parents went away into the paddock to look for bugs. This time, Vicky flew about 400 yards away, and Mindy half that, and sat in a tree looking quietly on. I took a few photos, but at that point the camera batteries went flat. We'll see how long it takes before Maggie and Vicky decide that bub can come to our yard for a visit.