A MISCHIEF OF MAGPIES Bud Lehnhausen They prey on small mammals

They prey on small mammals

While the garden shrubs and flowers have lost nearly all their leaves and gone to seed

Columbine leaves turn various shades in fall

and find enough food to thrive in these harsh environments

chocolate flowers

A MISCHIEF OF MAGPIES Bud Lehnhausen They prey on small mammalsSeven magpies gathered around a fallen tree on a Colorado hillside along the front range of the Rocky Mountains. A gathering of magpies is poetically called a "mischief" of magpies, which seems an apt description for these intelligent and curious birds. I see flocks of them most often in fall after their young have fledged and always wonder what sort of mischief they are up to. I saw this group puttering around Lory State Park near Fort Collins,