OPENING SKIRMISH IN THE 2012 CORVID WARS

Taken from the bedroom window. The magpies have been building the nest (top left) but now the crows have found it. There was a great deal of cawing and squawking, and some fisticuffs (or whatever the bird equivalent is), before the crows eventually withdrew to a nearby treetop to monitor the situation and the magpies did a bit of nest refurbishment and extension. At some stage the gulls will also get involved in this, because (a) they nest on the chimney stack of the house behind mine, and (b) they can't help themselves. What with all that going on and the blackbirds nesting in a shrub below the window I think we're in for some very noisy morning choruses this summer.