So... the magpies know who I am.

And I don't just mean "Food lady's at home, where's food?"

I mean I walked home from buying groceries and a mag in the alley saw me, called, and flew off. Less than a minute later there were 3 birds at my balcony (I was still walking the alley).

Tomorrow is peanut day.

They seemed underwhelmed by today's peanuts.

Or they didn't like that I was late (on time).
Peanuts by 11:30 not early in the morning...

Maybe they're coming to appreciate the predictability and knowledge that they don't have to fight to get these like they do for other food...

OR they're spreading out from their winter hunting (more food available now maybe??) and don't all have to rely on the same small number of limited locations.

Time to find mates and nests, after all.

Monday update:
I gave the magpies the connective tissue and skin from the chicken I cooked into soup.

They waited until I showed up before diving in.

AND THEN a trio hung out on the balcony, facing me in the window, as though acknowledging the tasty gift.

We are forging a bond

Tuesday update:
The snow is deep.
Magpies are sluggish.
BUT in the past 10 minutes, at least 6 different individuals visited my balcony to look imploringly at me and squawk questioningly.
One WAGGED ITS TAIL!

Sorry birbs.
If I give you food today, there won't be more later.

Today is magpie feeding day here.

And today I put out some slightly off ham... I mean, it wasn't BAD yet, just not great. And whatever. They eat sidewalk barf.

But oh, did I ever get avian side-eye at first!

One bird perched on my bike and stared right at me.

Then a huge flock of ravens came through (first I've seen this year) and scared ALL the birds away. Herring gulls included.

And I thought maybe I'd put out some peanuts... just to humour these tuxedoed snobs.

And then they started actually testing this weird meat stuff..

And lo and behold, it was deemed good, and one enterprising bird went along scooping up multiple bits into its beak!

But... on the whole, they've been ignoring my balcony today.
Wonder why?

There are, in fact, peanuts AND sunflowers out (possibly still some ham)...

Some didn't even bother with ham & went straight for peanuts.

Perhaps special treat day has to be another day of the week?

But between the ravens and the snow, the magpies have mostly shied away today.

No photos from this weekend, BUT I saw corvid cooperation in action!

I put out nuts and some stale kettlecorn on Sunday and... the little birbs got extremely excited.

Sparrows galore, snacking on the popcorn!

And the magpies ignored everything.

I was beginning to think maybe the magpies are just plain done with things.

Who needs free nuts? Not these picky tuxedo birds!

But the sunflower seeds (and popcorn) are a big hit with the littles.

I even went to Bulk Barn and got them some more nuts, but noooooo...

You would think, with the closure of restaurants & bars, there's much less garbage out there for all our scavenger birds (this might actually be a season of "healthy" eating for them - aka carrion, not sidewalk barf).

There's still a sizeable group of magpies.
And a raven gang.

So last night, I put out the trimmings from my roast beef (there was a large vein of fat that I wasn't going to eat anyway).

And this morning, after sleeping in, the magpies took advantage of the beefy treat. (But only after I was also up - I don't understand this relationship)

Intrepid magpies tried to shove multiple bites into their beaks at once.

... but otherwise they took turns and politely waited their turns. High-grading and only going after the fat, not the peanuts.

And then, in the afternoon, some dapper ravens got in on it, too.

These are ravens (they chortle, they don't caw) but they are sleek and small for ravens. They're urbane ravens.

And I don't know if they're the same gang that hassled the magpie nest by my balcony a few years ago or if they're different...

But they were POLITE.

I've yelled at them to cooperate before.
Particularly when I'm sitting on the balcony.

The magpies have fought bluejays and ravens alike for first dibs on the peanuts.

I just want them to wait their turn.
Today, they did!

The ravens didn't even come by until the fat was gone.

Things I want to know:

- do the magpies watch my bedroom to see when I wake up?

- have the magpies and ravens formed a .. Treaty? Or is this just a "food lady's balcony" rule?

- how do we become friends enough that they stop being freaked out by me standing at the window?

This morning, a raven stood on the neighbour's roof, faced my bedroom window, and called, loudly, until I was up. At 6am.

There will be no more peanuts until Sunday, like always.

Who needs a dog when you could have a raven barking at your door?

They land so hard compared to the other birds.

One day, I am going to have to just sit and observe these birds.
See if I can find a rhyme or reason to their calls and vocalisations.

Not today. Today is for earplugs.

There are 3 or 4 magpies inspecting the nest that was used two years ago.
I can't figure out if they're thinking of reusing it (it's currently sideways) or if one of the sparrows made a nest in it already and the magpies are having lunch.

OMG there's a magpie who just will not shut up.

Hop - squawk - hop - squawk - peck at seed - squawk - eat peanut - squawk - hop - squawk

It is MOST ANNOYING

I cannot imagine this is appealing to potential mates.

I think the magpies are flirting!

Either there is a mating extravaganza going on or somebody is getting severely bullied, based on the dying dinosaur noises outside...

These magpies.

On Sunday, I swept the (finally) snow-free balcony to clean out all the leftover sunflower seed shells etc (it was gross), and put out more peanuts.

The magpies couldn't have cared less (though maybe my human presence scared them??).

...

Then a big wind came & BLEW THE PEANUTS AWAY and I am suddenly overrun with expectant birds (& squirrel).

There are still peanuts scattered around, but the birds keep peering in my window.

And the ravens are quorking for dominance (so I have to keep reminding them to share).

While I may not end up with @ChalicothereX's financial dominance via corvid, I would like to see some politeness out of these birds.

After all, we are ALL sharing this space. And I intend to sit on it (it's my balcony) once it gets warm.

P.s. ravens are really stompy.

I wonder if the snow + seed shell detritus convinced them there was more food available than there truly is...

Guess we'll see what happens when more food gets put out on Sunday.

It is clear that my balcony (vs other balconies) is key TERRITORY for the birds.

DIVE-BOMB!

It's so windy, my windows keep rattling.
The birds are calling, but they aren't moving around much.
SO MANY vocalizations.

I have to wait for calmer conditions to put out peanuts and seeds.

The peanuts are blowing around in the wind. :(

It is finally calm enough outside for the birds to get peanuts!

They (again) got quite excited seeing me walk towards my apartment after getting groceries.

... I have told my family about @rubydoomsday's assignment to befriend the birds.

I've been given tips & encouragement!

The birds are getting some meat trimmings again...

... which means the ravens are out.

They're definitely ravens, based on the quorking and warbling calls they make... but they're basically magpie-sized.

... which means these aggressive territory fights are evenly-matched.

I keep looking for the Ravens' shaggy throat feathers and not finding them.

These birds are SLEEK and petite.

But they have massive bills, and longer tails and necks than crows.

They also don't like me taking photos.

Oh! Also, per @TheGoodDeath's latest video ( https://twitter.com/TheGoodDeath/status/1255999847997440000?s=19), summarizing @corvidresearch's research, I think I now know how/why the magpies know who I am.

THEY KNOW MY FACE!

Terrible photos, I know...
But this is like the meadowlark of ravens. So petite and gracile.

Very similar in build (but not tail) to the cheeky tuxedo bird in the 3rd photo.

They've totally figured out a nesting procedure now. It only took 4 years to build one strong enough to last multiple years (though I think they need to reinforce it).

Wow are they protecting territory right now. Dive-bombing anyone who comes across my balcony or near the tree.

The territorial magpies are even trying to intimidate the wee little red squirrel ... who forgot he hid his spruce cone stash in my flower pots yet again this winter.

(I swear it strategically hides behind things when I take photos... yes, I know I need to clean my flower pots)

Look at this extremely well-fed peanut thief!
(It looks extra pixel-y because the photos were taken through the screen door.)

There's been a lot of territory protection and claiming.

A tense detente has been declared on the balcony, but every raven move is met with angry magpie calls from the nearby nest.

(Also, I am bad at threading) https://twitter.com/alisonborealis/status/1257933248207794176?s=19

This particular feathery friend hung out for a long while, trying to decide if it was safe enough to get a peanut while I watched.
... which may be the magpies' ultimate protection. https://twitter.com/alisonborealis/status/1257934197760552960?s=19

So much shimmying on the railing...
"How close can I get? Too close omg! WTF human?!"

A very well-fed squirrel has eaten ALL THE NUTS AND SEEDS on the balcony.

The birds are miffed.

Luckily there's more food available for them... soon.

But... today, an indignant magpie vocalized at me questioningly (they use uptalk a lot) as though they could convince me to give them food.

Ok... I stand corrected.

Either there's an ur-corvid that's much larger than these urbane ravens, or I'm only getting balcony visits by juveniles or their near vanta-blackness has confused my size estimation.

There was a MAGPIE EMERGENCY of a raven on the nest and it was HUGE.

Decided to try the veggie food only approach today.

The ravens/crows (whatever these sleek chortlers are) aren't nearly as interested in non-meat options.

Magpies, though, LOVE stale kettle corn!

Happy birds with less predator pressure and territory calling today.

There was a fiercely vocal stand-off yesterday.

A large voidbird (what I'm going to call the crow/ravens) was at the magpie nest. About 4 adult magpies were impotently yelling at it... but otherwise doing nothing as the voidbird poked its head in to the poor stick shelter.

(Seriously, these magpies need to work on nest construction.)

So much shouting (but no pecking or feather pulling) perplexes me. It's patently obvious the voidbirds don't care.

And the campaign of verbal abuse goes both ways (voidbirds regularly yell at the magpies too).

So *I* got out onto the balcony and scared the baby-eater away.

Luckily all it takes is me stepping out onto the balcony to scare the voidbirds away. (Clattering screen doors help.)

I cannot fly & the nest is 12 ft away.

What would these tuxedo floofbeasts do without me?

I then lectured the 4 magpies on defending the nest. They're their babies (or siblings/nieces/nephews) after all... they need to fight for them, not stand by as a voidbird eats them!

Anyway, there are baby bird noises still this morning, so some survived what violence occurred.

SIGH.

ARE the magpies getting amy of the snacks I leave for them?!?!

The magpies (and squirrel & sparrows) have taken to using every last square inch of space on my balcony.

... including perching ON the screen door, silly birds.

The mags still don't stay immobile long enough for photos.

I wonder if they'd come in if I had the door open... or if they'd just look at it as "omg, there's a void where once there was screen with scary food lady behind it".

With my luck, the squirrel would probably be the only one to take up the offer and have a peanut bonanza

... which means I will never do it, because squirrels and I have a long history of animosity over ruined food and chewed-through screens etc.

This voracious floofbeast just convinced me to put out mid-week peanuts and sunflower seeds.

I am getting soft in my isolation.

(Also holy weird-angle glass distortion Batman!)