There's something deeply satisfying about shooting magpies. All these were taken from the same two trees, one at 80m, the other at 96m, using a single decoy bird at first (the really rotten one), then adding other birds over the next several days. This morning I smacked three new birds who'd come for a look, obviously keen on moving into the recently vacated territory... There's a couple more that are just scattered feathers now as the hawk was on them first thing.
Magpie hunting is something of a craft I reckon, you get to recognise the different types of calls and what they mean, how many birds there are, where they are. I can listen in the study while I'm working, and quickly pop out for quarter of an hour when I hear they're close. It's getting a fair bit quieter...
Thanks to @
GWH for sending me a distress call media file, played that on the shed hifi at max volume this morning, worked a treat! Three birds came into the garden, first one landed about 30 seconds after I pressed play on the remote... it bought a CCI right through the engine room. Brilliant. Won't play the distress call very often, as don't want them becoming accustomed to it.
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