One For Sorrow

I heard horrible squawking and rushed outside to investigate. It was one magpie mercilessly attacking another. As I approached they both disappeared. Later I caught sight of the poor pecked individual creeping past the window and got the above shot. I'm guessing that it is a juvenile whose parents have stopped feeding it and want it to leave their territory. I'd normally feel sad about something like this but the emotions of the nation are running very close to the surface and it made me cry, as did the sight of the Globemaster aircraft yesterday.

The procession of The Queen's coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall was so moving, gliding along at seventy-five paces per minute, each marked by guns and Big Ben. It's quite difficult for horses to walk that slowly. What a sad but polished spectacle it was, the Imperial State Crown atop the casket twinkling in the sunshine. I've just read that scientists have discovered that magpies are not actually attracted to sparkly things and don't steal them but are repelled because they are novel and might prove dangerous.