Magpies get a bale each; mellow afternoon feeds; Australian birds

He arrives and makes a bee-line for me. He gets a decent bale and then a log. Scraping is not much use. She arrives and gets her own, better bale. Then he pushed his luck and got the bale he'd had earlier again. Roaches, worms, a couple of curl grubs, some little grasshppers and a beetle - the usual natural fare.
It's pretty amazing how there's more bugs under a bale half an hour after it's been extensively harvested. And that bale might be the worst one in rotation. It's not got many turns left before it collapses.
She flew straight in from the direction of the nest. “Normal” behaviour would see the magpies foraging up towards the veg patch and asking for a bale. Her method of arrival has me thinking she's spending most of her day sitting on eggs. Still, time will tell.
I wanted to get this up yesterday but life got in the way. I'm now a day behind - I need the magpies to skip a day so I can catch up.
Have a good one!
If you'd like to support the channel you can buy me a bale:
buymeacoffee.c...

[@nicolaj3294]

A nice visit today from both😊

[@trep17mag]

When I was a young kid at the dinner table my mother would say 'Don't pick at your food!' She'd have a good laugh at this though.
What I love about them is they're so patient and polite.

[@johndavis7944]

In a past video He has a go at one of Murray's fingers.
Patient and polite? Most of the time.

[@mybackyard36]

I do get the odd dirty look if I take too long setting up the camera 😁 And sometimes when he comes back a second or third time and doesn't get a bale. They're both young though, it's going to be good watching them raise a family for the first time.

[@trep17mag]

A helping hand! 😉

[@mybackyard36]

You're right, that's exactly what I was aiming at providing 😁 I figured this was the best magpie food there is - and while they like it, they aren't dependent on it.

[@johndavis7944]

Funny that he returned and got that Curlgrub he left the first time. A bit like an all you can eat, returning for the last piece of that chicken.
A good snacking for her between nest breaks. She'll be making the most of her short trips to and from for now.
Today I noticed my local Blue Fairy Wrens were very vocal and busy. I'm not sure if they're nesting yet, but my guess is it won't be long before they do. Their nest is is the size of a 1/2 measuring cup.
Have a good day Murray.
Cheers 👍😀🇦🇺

[@mybackyard36]

He's hot and cold on curl grubs - maybe he left it hoping for something better before cleaning it up. He seems to prefer the little ones to the big ones too. Pauly loved 'em, the bigger the better.
That's a small nest! I saw a Peaceful dove nest once - it was barely there. A lot wider than half a cup but inflation must have made twigs a bit too price for first-time nest builders.
I think the Red-backed fairy wrens here have probably bred. Warm end to winter, and a pretty mild winter over all. Ah - I was just wondering if a Red-back could cross with a Superb to get a violet back - not quite but they can cross, along with other Fairy Wren species:
fairywrenproject.org/hybrid-fairywrens/
So if you see an odd-looking wren it just might be an odd one. If only the little sods would sit still long enough to be photographed...
Cheers John 👍😁👍

[@mybackyard36]

Did you know that a Kookaburra cannot fly away when a determined magpie is holding on to a single one of the Kooka's tail feathers? I didn't, but I learned that today!
I suspect there are ongoing issues about that curl grub incident...and I hope to share the video soon. Man, I'm swamped but I can't believe the Kooka trying to take off and failing...it must value that feather highly! 🧐

[@johndavis7944]

@@mybackyard36 No. I've never seen that particular hold before.
I suppose it's like a police officer holding an assailant by the back of his/her pants, not being able to run away.
I'll be looking forward to the video.

[@PenelopeCampey]

Little Lady didn’t get quite the variety that Buddy did but she had a good feed nevertheless 👍

[@mybackyard36]

He's going to be on second-hand bales while she is (probably) sitting on the nest. I'm pretty sure she is - I don't see her foraging any more. And the smorgasbale is the quickest feed around 😁

[@franceshurt3517]

Such beautiful birds, I can't help wonder about the babies, have they hatched yet? Cheers!!!👍👍

[@mybackyard36]

Hi Frances. You should know the day after I do - I film in the afternoons and try and get the videos up the next day. I'm one day behind at the moment but if they skip a visit one day I'll catch up. Unless I get buried in work.
Magpies collect insects in their beaks to take back to the nest and start doing that the day the chick hatch.. The moment we see collection, we 100% know the chick/s have hatched. First collection day is always a happy one for me and I'll mention it in big letters in the thumb and title.
It might be another week and a half - it was a guess as to when she started sitting but feels about right. Maybe a week...my gut says a little longer.

[@mybackyard36]

And they should be collecting for about 4 weeks before the chicks fledge 😁