So many roaches...magpies get a fantastic bale and she got bonus grub - Australian birds

[@user-nd7rg5er5g]

This is such wonderful footage of happy birds having a lovely time.

[@mybackyard36]

They have such wonderful personalities. It's probably because they're so intelligent. They're just great to have around the yard. Australia's best bird IMO 😁

[@hongkongfui04]

@3:15 The first one wipes its mouth after a delicious meal. Good manners. 😄

[@mybackyard36]

Cleaning the cutlery after the meal 😁

[@johndavis7944]

The banana tree leaves have seen yellow way before the fruit. When you finally remove the tree, cut it in half down the guts and lay the cut side down somewhere to see if it harbours bugs as it breaks down. Bonus bit of grub... Literally! Thanks. Much appreciated. Grub. You have been selected to feed a magpie. What would like for your last meal before the sacrifice is carried out? A tomato leaf please 🐛🌿 Damn that bale was teeming with roaches. For her it was a grab and go. A bit more relaxed time for him. I would find all manner of mulch roaches when doing bush regen. Once I found an albino roach with pink eyes. Fascinating! It was a very dark and moist environment where it was residing. Nice one Murray. Cheers 👍🐛🪳😀🇦🇺

[@mybackyard36]

Interesting suggestion with the banana - it'd be very damp in there and the shape would be just right to kill some grass around a bit of the 12-sided bed for a new edging idea I'm trying. And I'll use any excuse to break out the machete😃 Chopped up banana stem can be used for fish food. I've seen a video somewhere of a wood chipper pointing at a pond and banana trunks getting sprayed out of it straight in to the water. As the grub was on an eggplant I figured it'd eat the related tomato leaves. I didn't want to damage the eggplant as it's small and has quite a lot of fruit on it. The tomato plants are running wild and wouldn't miss a few leaves. For "zero care" plants they've been very productive. I really like outdoor roaches. We have a species which is the typical brown colour but it has a yellow stripe right around the outside of it. Very cute. Usually found under wood rather than bales. I've never seen an albino roach. Mind you, if I did it'd probably be as a magpie grabs it given I see far more roaches under bales than anywhere else. The magpies skipped a day - I don't want to read anything into that. I'm sure the eggs will start to hatch any day now so we'll have to wait and see what happens. There's a really good burnt out stump covered in orange fungus behind the house. It's a bit cloudy at the moment but I've been meaning to get a photo of it when it's sunny. There's a lot more of it than on that log near the birdbath. Cheers John 👍😁👍

[@johndavis7944]

@@mybackyard36 Interesting about the banana tree being used as fish food. I could pun that all day long. Tomatoes and eggplants are of the same family, nightshade. So their leaves are similar in vanation, colour and structure. But tomato leaves and stems have a pungent aroma and are hairy.

[@mybackyard36]

@@johndavis7944 Yep, tomato leaves do smell. I'm not sure if it's the exact type but there are very similar caterpillars that love to eat tomato leaves - until they get a hit of pyrethrum...😁

[@petert3355]

I think you may have offended Sir. Pretty sure he was asking "Oi, Where's mine?"

[@mybackyard36]

I think a very good bale might have made up for it 😁

[@nicolaj3294]

Hi Murray, great bale they couldn't eat fast enough. I think you won her over with the grub. I see your crutches are still doing the job 😊

[@mybackyard36]

Yep, one of the best for a while. Probably the best since the 110ml of rain a while back. Just the right amount of moisture I think. Good use of a grub. Glad I kept it. As it was on an eggplant i figured it would eat other plants in that species so I gave it a tomato leaf. It looks like it enjoyed it - until the evening. Cheers Nicola. And thanks for the FB follow

[@suzanne5781]

Christmas came early! They sure enjoyed their meal. Looks like it's still a bit breezy up your way - we had strong winds all through yesterday and last night. The sea here sure has been pretty choppy too. It's fun here watching some of the amateur sailors negotiating the very dangerous bar here on their way back into harbour - despite all the warning signs so often the Marine Rescue guys have to go out and help them back in. There are videos on Utube now of how to negotiate the bar in this area in the faint hope the holiday sailors might watch it. It doesn't seem to be working.

[@mybackyard36]

So many roaches... Yep, the wind comes and goes throughout the day but it's still blowing hard on and off. Maybe you could set up a live camera feed on the bar - the will they/won't they make it could be of interest to a lot of people 😁 Of course there might be one already set up so the rescue guys can keep an eye on the situation and scramble fast. Cheers Sue.

[@suzanne5781]

@@mybackyard36 That gave me a laugh! I feel sorry for the Marine Rescue guys, they have to go out in all sorts of weather and retrieve these novice sailors - but hey, the live camera feed is a thought. I could just sit at home and watch the fun from here, mate. Wait until the Christmas holidays, that's when the fun REALLY starts. Those wretched motor skis will be screaming up and down the river here and the noise! We all watch them in the faint hope they'll hit the bar and then finally shut up forever.

[@mybackyard36]

@@suzanne5781 And you could occasionally compile a selection of blunders into a highlight reel. "What do you do for a living?" "Rescue idiots." Seems like we're not doing the right thing for Darwinian evolution... Jet skis are the trail bikes of the water world - and I don't like trail bikes because around here, the riders are almost always breaking the law. And the noise.

[@skullworld7]

Your backyard magpies always clean/scrape their beaks after a roach/slater meal…that banana plant is not going to make harvest..👎🍌🍌🍌 R

[@mybackyard36]

I'm still not sure slaters are on the menu up here! They should be - Gary says they're popular with magpies in Victoria. I thought they were being eaten but when I looked more closely, they seem to be fairly safe. Mind you, I haven't seen any big ones... Banana is assuredly on the way out. Ah well. There'll be another along before too long 👍😁👍

[@SalvableRuin]

"Magpie" is such an ugly name for such a gorgeous bird.

[@mybackyard36]

😁