Day 477 A mischief of magpies

There would appear to be a number of collective nouns for a group of magpies: conventicle, gulp, mischief, tiding, tittering, charm, flock, murder and congregation are some that I've found.  I'm not sure which would best describe the goings on in our garden this afternoon, but the noise of their chattering was loud to put it mildly.  A number of them flew back and forth across the garden, pausing to chatter or rather scream at each other.  Whatever was engaging them even put paid to their usual nervousness and  ability to avoid my camera and I was able to take some shots with the dining room doors open, using the camera on a tripod.  I've no idea if I've photographed the same bird or several different ones, as when at rest they tended to be alone.
In other news: BJ spoke to the nation at 5pm today to confirm that nearly all legal  restrictions will be lifted as planned on 19 July, next Monday.  Nightclubs and other venues with large crowds will, however, be encouraged to use domestic vaccine passports to allow the public entry and the government 'reserves the right' to make certification mandatory if necessary in the future.  So not quite an end to restrictions, just the creation of new ones then.