I know I have shown you photographs of Bill’s magpies before but I can’t resist taking more photo’s of them – they are so tame, characterful and endearing. Take this morning for example, I had made some fruit salad for a mid-morning snack and no sooner had Bill and I sat down at the little wooden table in the spa area of the tropical garden, than a lone magpie popped his head around the corner. He came so close that I could bend down and see his  bushy eyebrows – they have very cute eyebrows.

“I suppose you’d like to join us,” I said (honestly!).

“Well, if you’re having a bite to eat, why not?” he told me in his magpie tones, “But no fruit salad please… how about some of that ham fat from the other day – it’s bearable, and not so greasy, if you coat it in ashes or dirt … or steak – we’re partial to steak – if you prefer?”

I went inside to the kitchen to find some scraps off the diminishing leg of ham, and I had a feeling that my magpie mate would have roused the troops by the time I returned. Indeed, several of his family and friends had gathered expectantly, hoping for a banquet. The measly amount of ham trimmings lasted about two minutes. The rest of the gang came along too, hopping about and jumping onto the seat backs.

“Okay,” said Bill, “Give me a moment and I’ll be back with something even nicer than ham fat – something you won’t have to cover with dirt before you eat it…”

“Not steak then? ‘Something’ doesn’t sound like steak,” the magpie assumed rightly.

Bill returned with a big and juicy, raw beef sausage. The birds nearly did somersaults! Obviously, this was not their first beef sausage and they were not disappointed, as you can see for yourself in the photographs…