Feathers

It's definitely spring and the birds are very busy with courting, mating and nest building. The magpies are very much in evidence, busily flying back and forth. However, not every story has a happy ending.
As I was doing my walk on Sunday (7,5 km in 70 minutes) I spotted the rather sad sight of a dead magpie at the side of the road. The bird's neck was broken so I guess it was too slow to get out of the way of an oncoming car.
I took a few pictures as it's not so often you get so close to a magpie. I was trying to catch something of the sheen on the feathers even though they are also full of dust.