There’s something about the grassy playing fields of Cardiff’s Hamadryad Park that Magpies love, as I often see large numbers there, prospecting for worms and other insects. Today I counted 44 birds, and more could be heard and seen in the neighbouring trees.

I’ve just been reading that there are several collective nouns for a flock of Magpies – amongst them, congregation, tribe, charm – but the one I like best is mischief. The four birds shown below certainly looked like they were plotting some kind of devilment.