rare bird(well kinda)

[jonny_redhorse]

I've been looking for a decent shot(and chance) to get a pic of a black-billed magpie...finally got a chance this morning while on my weekend drive south of Hibbing on hwy#5...this one was feeding on a deer carcass a few days old (along with a couple bald eagles)...not the best as I took it through my front windshield ...things don't sit around poseing for you

"ratty" shot of the eagle but gotta take what you can get at times!

also a deer not far from the magpie

scenery close to the magpie

[Steve Foss]

Jonny, that's great. As many times as I've been to Sax-Zim, where a decent number of these fellas hang out, they haven't stuck around for even a second once the old big black lens eye looks their way. Good job! Love that deer shot and the last one with the tammies and blue sky, too.

[LPCrowRiverFisherman]

Never saw a Magpie before, I have wanted to though. I saw 2 Bald Eagles today down here one went right over me, the other crossed the road with a squirrel in its grasp. But what do you know, no camera handy.

[MN Shutterbug]

I didn't even realize we had magpies in MN. The only magpies I've ever seen were in Alaska.

LP, you missed the photo op of the year. That would have made quite the photo, an eagle with a squirrel.

[fiskyknut]

I see these things quite often the past few years in Roseau county. 10- 20 years ago I never saw them at all? They must be making their way eastward?

[Steve Foss]

The magpies are seen off and on in western Minnesota, less often on the Range, though I do see them pretty frequently along the Sax-Zim Bog southwest of Virginia.

The prefer open or semi-open country, and are common throughout the west and east through most of North Dakota. Roseau County, because it's pretty wide open in lots of places (massive hay fields, for example), seems to attract its share of them. And, of course, bird species move somewhat over time, especially as we carve out new habitats for them where there wasn't habitat before.

[jonny_redhorse]

Steve's right on the magpies in this area(northeastern mn)...usually out in the western part of the state and even then they're more of a "western" bird in wyoming, montana etc....I do see them occassionally in the sax bog and when you do ,they are usually along side or fighting with the ravens/crows(magpies are related to crows) for the deer kills...I saw 2 last week on the "south admiral road"(Sax Bog) but couldn't the camera ready in time... if you find a deer carcass in this area...the magpies will more then likely be there...great photo opportunities...eagles too at times but to me the magpies are rarer then the eagles ...nothing to see eagles these days! ..not that there's anything wrong with eagles ...

[mcary]

Jonny,

I don't know how much traveling you typically do, but if you ever head out west Rocky Mountain National Park is a great place to get Magpie images. Like many NP animals they don't have any real fear of people anymore. It's also a good place for Stellar's Jays, which are a cool looking bird if you ever get a chance to see one.

[Steve Foss]

For a year I lived at 10,000 feet in Colorado and worked for a gold mine, and we had Stellar's jays, Clark's nutcrackers and magpies coming into our yard all the time. Their goal wasn't my feeders. It was the dog food.

[buzzsaw]

Nice capture, Jonny! I've never even seen one of these... maybe I need to get back up to gods country again soon.

[Jim Almquist]

Really like the Magpie Jonny. Last time I saw one of these was in Canada on the way to the northwest angle.

[Dotch]

Nice shots Johnny. These guys were frequent visitors when I lived in the Little House on the Prairie west of Rock Lake ND. Nice to see them again.

[finnbay]

Nice shot, Jonny. I, too have never seen a magpie in this part of the country. Saw many out west, but never in northeastern Minnesota. Thanks!

[Fishingqueen]

Great picture of that Magpie! In Internatioanl Falls I seen a bunch of them and was able to get this picture.

Cheryl

[jonny_redhorse]

nice capture Queen!...not that easy to get a pic of one of these guys ....we belong to the "magpie of the month club"

[Fishingqueen]

Yes we do! Yeah, they are hard to get pictures of - camera shy. I must have looked like a crazy lady walking and sneaking around to get some pictures. haha. Its fun. I love taking pictures. I just had a flock of Evening Grosbeak at my feeder (sign that winter is near)they are also camera shy. I got one picture that kinda turned out but not good enough to post.