Meandering magpies

What month is it anyway?  Do mine eyes deceive me?

Yes.  Yes they do.  No snow for our November, just cottonwood fluff.

November in the New England high country means summer is almost here!  The trees are all leafed out and the spring flowers have all but completely disappeared.  With a bit of rain last week the grass is greener than ever.  I can't even remember when the last time we saw green playing fields!  While we've had some cool days (and cold nights), the temperatures are steadily rising.  Very soon it will officially be summer.

It's not a good time for allergies, though.  As seen above the poplars are shedding their seeds, along with all the rest of the plants.  Pollen is everywhere (and word on the street says it's twice as bad as last year.)  I have never really suffered from allergies before and I have been sniffling for the past two weeks.

We haven't seen too many parrots around town lately, but magpies are everywhere.  Now that the juveniles are getting pretty large, they follow their parents in the grass, crying for food.  I still love the warbling, yodeling call of the magpies, but the juveniles can be a little annoying.

Wait for it...

Gotcha!

As I was taking these photos, this magpie sensed some tasty morsel and ran very close toward me, letting me take some very close-up portraits.  I really like Australian magpies!  I think they're very handsome birds, and I love watching them run.