My thrill of the day, if not year.
This morning I went to the neighborhood public library and came across a juvenile magpie with spanking-new plumage foraging (without much luck) around the base of a tree. When I stopped and chatted with him, he was extremely calm and approached me expectantly, winking repeatedly. When I made low-pitched chucking sounds, he responded by coming closer — ca 2 feet — and making typical magpie food-begging chirps. Not receiving the expected reward, he went back to the base of the tree, 'muttering' to himself.
I have never had such an encounter with a magpie before. They are usually extremely wary and keep their distance and make defensive noises. I can only hope this behavior on Roscoe's part gets passed on genetically.
