![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/black-billed-magpie-8899-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"black-billed-magpie-8899-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nTo my eye there’s something just a little bit strange about this bird.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed it three days ago on Antelope Island. I like the way the bird is almost completely separated from the perch against that lovely, layered background with the Great Salt Lake at bottom and sky above. The lake is so huge in this perspective that we don’t even see a hint of the far shore or\u00a0mountains back there. You can’t see them with the naked eye either. It’s too bad that the color of my blog page matches the upper background so well.<\/p>\n I’ve never seen this color\/feather pattern where the front of the wings meet the rest of the body in this species before. I think it may be at least partly because the white flank and side feathers are swept up over the top of the front of the dark wing edge which makes the entire front half of the wing appear white. But there’s more than that going on. Notice the black in the upper right hand corner of the whites.\u00a0Normally there isn’t any black mixed in with the white (the blacks and whites are very distinct from each other)\u00a0and this is the first time I’ve seen\u00a0this on any magpie.\u00a0I looked at a bunch of my other magpie photos to confirm that.<\/p>\n I never got a look at the other side of the bird so I don’t know if the left side shows the same thing. I zoomed in on that area with the high-resolution image and I’m convinced that black is the actual feather color there\u00a0rather than some kind of smudge, stain\u00a0or debris. This may be a first year bird but with magpies that shouldn’t make any difference.<\/p>\n It’s a\u00a0small thing but it sure caught my attention because it looks so different.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the last minute I decided to include another photo of a different magpie in a similar pose to show you what I’ve always seen in the past with this species. See what I mean?<\/p>\n I hope I’m writing this coherently. I have to answer the door for trick or treaters and a neighbor’s dogs are driving me nuts barking at them\u00a0so I’m having a hard time concentrating. But if you have a possible explanation other than a color anomaly I’d like to hear it. Maybe I’m missing something, it’s happened before…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – After yesterday’s post regarding cats I have to mention this.\u00a0My next door neighbors to the east\u00a0who\u00a0don’t control the barking of their dogs (trick or treaters or not) also let\u00a0their cats\u00a0run free and I hate that they do both\u00a0–\u00a0irresponsible pet ownership personified! Their dogs have been barking loudly and\u00a0incessantly\u00a0for\u00a0almost three hours now.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And those folks probably wonder why I’m not very friendly. Yes, I did talk to them about it some\u00a0years ago. No change…<\/em><\/p>\n Addendum: In the end after buying tons of Halloween candy my doorbell only rang twice and I had 7 trick or treaters. Anyone have a sweet tooth?<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/black-billed-magpie-6581b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"black-billed-magpie-6581b-ron-dudley\\"")
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