Magpie nesting

[rms364]

Seen a magpie carrying nest material this morning. Ain’t seen that in January before false spring again and a return to winter just as the lambing starts in March my guess

 

[mel b3]

They've been building a nest at the bottom of my garden for two weeks , and they're using the materials from last years nest ( about 20 yards away) . Theirs a constant battle between the two magpies that are building the nest , and four crows that drop in every couple of hours , and try to push them away.

 

[glasshalffull]

Sparrows building a nest in my open barn and the snowdrops only starting to open here but February could be a cruel month

 

[rms364]

They've been building a nest at the bottom of my garden for two weeks , and they're using the materials from last years nest ( about 20 yards away) . Theirs a constant battle between the two magpies that are building the nest , and four crows that drop in every couple of hours , and try to push them away.

Bottom of gardenI’d get the air rifle into action

 

[mel b3]

Bottom of gardenI’d get the air rifle into action

They're building the nest in the neighbours tree , so it's not that easy . It shouldn't be too hard to bait them down on to my lawn though

 

[FrenchieBoy]

We have a magpie nest in a tree at the back of our property which they built last year. My wife saw them coming and going with twigs etc and trying to tidy it a week or so ago. I thought it was a bit too early till I saw it myself!

 

[JTO]

They often/sometimes build several nests but only use one to raise a family.

 

[old keeper]

As JTO said, magpies will often start building early but very often move on and start somewhere else.
It always surprises me that two of the most intelligent birds we have, magpies and crows start building in bare trees when the nests are totally visible!

 

[Beretta V]

I live by a nature reserve and see more magpies and squirrels than anything else. What’s the law in trapping magpies in my garden as I can’t shoot in it?

 

[3xspringer]

I live by a nature reserve and see more magpies and squirrels than anything else. What’s the law in trapping magpies in my garden as I can’t shoot in it?

Larsen trap no problem

 

[foxdropper]

I thought the male did the initial building and a female chooses which one to finish .

 

[Colinf]

I live by a nature reserve and see more magpies and squirrels than anything else. What’s the law in trapping magpies in my garden as I can’t shoot in it?

Just make sure that you follow the conditions on the relevant General Licences

 

[Sonicdmb73]

Getting to the time of year I go out with shotgun and “remove” nests. So I can clearly see which are in use later on.
See if I can improve on last year’s tally.

Not shooting as it’s not legal, but as a demonstration of how many magpies were about. I played a call on the iHunt app on my phone. In short order there were around twenty. Very peeded off birds mobbing the caller. The farmer was surprised at how aggressive they were.

 

[willowbank]

I thought the male did the initial building and a female chooses which one to finish .

An interesting fact, Magpies pair for life and if the partner dies join ‘singles’ flocks of sometimes great numbers until they meet another mate and pair off to breed, staying with that partner until bereaved,
a good reason not to go near or empty a Larsen trap until after dark is very often the second bird of a pair is caught.

If this second bird is attacking the call bird or trying to free its mate I don’t know but they usually drop into the trap.

WB