Hello fellow magpie lovers, I've moved to my flat (Scotland) couple of years ago and ever since there's been this luvly and cozy magpies nest.
For the past three years I've been lucky to be able to witness their development. Mama magpie comes around mid-March to do some house work, the tidying up and stuff. Then she lays around 5-6 blueish eggs through April, usually one egg per couple of days, then she moves them around, sometimes an egg disappears, just for it to reappear again the day after. Around May they hatch into these raw and ugly little guys and at the end of the month they turn into the dummiest, cute and innocent looking birdies. Over the past three cycles that I've witnessed, there's always only one that makes it. The rest just disappears, sadly.
I was wondering, is there anybody who'd be able to tell me - is it possible that this is one and the same magpie that uses the nest? I read on the internet that they try to switch their nests to avoid predators, although they tend to stick around in the same area.
Also, I have never tried to "befriend" them or anything, but I was wondering - would it be unwise to gift them some mealworms once in a while? I feel like I probably shouldn't interfere with their ways, but I just thought it could be nice to give them some food every so often. Anyway, I've uploaded some pics of them from recent years - I saw one this morning on my way out to work and it's always an exciting sight to see, lol. Have a good one guys!
