Magpie Snack

[djackmanson]

It is a cloudy afternoon. We are on a concrete path, running between some waste ground fenced off with cyclone wire, and a nature strip with trees and grass separating us from a suburban back street. Just above us, an Australian magpie flies towards the fence. They have been captured with their wings open wide. The feathers on the end of their wings are spread out so we can clearly see each individual one, and so are their tail-feathers. The bird is mostly black, with white curves running from the base of the wing to the leading edge. The part of the tail closest to the body is white too, as is a small marking on the back of their neck. The bird's grace and power are on full display.

Galvin Street, Altona, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Land of the Yalukit-willam clan of the Boon Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation.

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

I'm really happy with this photo. This is in my neighbourhood, and this magpie is one of the ones I regularly feed. (I give them oats, not bread - bread is unhealthy for them). They know me well enough now that they usually come up and greet me when they see me, waiting for their snack. I saw two others waiting on a wire across the road, and had my phone in my hand trying to take a photo of them, when I realised this bird was coming in to wait on the fence. I fumbled the phone up, and pointed it in what I thought was the right direction - the sun was in my eyes, and the screen was full of glare so I couldn't tell. I pressed the shutter button and hoped - and this was the great result.