A Rare Sight

Magpies.  They are very common in Korea, much more common than their fellow corvids the crows, possibly because the two genera occupy overlapping niches and often compete for resources, and for whatever reason, magpies have largely outcompeted crows in Korea.

And like crows, magpies are known to be highly intelligent and territorial.  They will aggressively defend their home turfs.

Which is why it's unusual to see a single tree with two magpie nests, let alone three.  Maybe they were built by multiple generations of birds.

From Around The Neighborhood

After that previous steak post it seemed appropriate to post a few quick shots from recent postprandial constitutionals taken through my neighborhood.

I'm fortunate to live right at the base of a hill with lots and lots of trees and greenery.  To experience a bit of nature in the midst of the city, all I have to do is go around to the back of the apartment and it's all right there.

So at one point a couple of years ago it occurred to me that it might be interesting go into these woods in the thick of the night, in the middle of a rainstorm.  I don't know why... it just did.  It was during the rainy season and it rained heavily almost every day, so it was perfectly feasible to carry out the plan right away.  And as the forecast was that there would be another rainstorm that night, I went up into the woods well after dark and waited.  And waited, and waited, until it was past midnight.  Well, the promised rain never came, and I got tired of the waiting, so I just went home and went to bed.

And of course, next day I found out it had indeed rained, in the wee hours of the morning.