Sun Shiny Magpies

I always know when winter is on it's way when these guys make their way to my feeding stations. The Magpie!! I personally love these guys even though their not usually considers a 'desirable' bird to bring to ones yard.

Magpies are scavengers by nature...they eat whatever they find are are not to picky about the state that it's in. I usually only see them in the yard in winter as their natural food source diminished as it get colder.

Their food source? Why roadkill of course! Yup. These stunning birds will often be found feasting on whatever roadside delight the passing motorists have left it that day. I guess this is part of the reason regal birders like to turn their noses up at them. Even the people that run my local bird supply store seems to have an issue with them.

This makes me wonder just how many people truly see these birds. Or is it one of those times where you've been told they're bad so they must be.

I mean look at these birds! They have one of the longest tail feathers I've ever seen,stunning colour and when the sun hits them just right there's no telling what you're going to see.

The picture to the left is the best example of it...I had no idea until yesterday how gorgeous these fellas could look. The sun hit him and the tail went every shade of gorgeous! Magenta & PURPLE???? WOW.

The picture itself isn't a stunner...I added some green garland to the snow fence to make a nicer backdrop for when the birds land never once imagining that I'd be photographing these giants beasts in all their stunning glory.

So tell me...why are these a "crappy" bird to get in your back yard? How many things are you going to walk by in life because you have preconceived ideas about what is "good" or what is "bad", what's "pretty" and what's "ugly".

We rush around like frantic little ants. Scurrying around without ever even looking up to see what we're passing by. For what? More money? More stuff? I'm just as guilty of it as the next person...I love stuff. Stuff makes me happy.

The thing that makes me happier though? Is when I can re tell a story about an amazing sunrise or sunset I witnessed and others ignored. Or hiking trail that I conquered that others would not consider the thing to do on their vacation.

I spent my 36th birthday this year doing a 21km trail ride on a beat up old bike that was stuck in 2nd and 5th. I hadn't ridden my bike once in the last 3 years before this trip. And I rode through swamp, through lakes, down hills, around trees and over craters left by some unknown meteor landing (okay maybe they weren't that big, but they felt like it).

Why mention it? Because before this year I never would have even attempted it because I didn't believe I was capable of it. These pre-conceived notions we have about nature, about each other, about ourselves are ones that I feel we need to get rid of. Toss them out the window.

Get rid of the labels, get rid of the boxes and pop the bubble.

So the next time your looking around, really look with your eyes wide open...you might surprise yourself.