Amanda Stuaart, My funny companion in isolation - a baby magpie (ANIMAL & NATURE 2020)

During isolation, confined to just 5kms from home, I was delighted when a baby magpie appeared one day and seemed to want to engage with me. Before this encounter, I had little experience of magpies and thought they were just black and white birds, who all looked much the same and had a beautiful singing voice. In fact this little bird was quite a character, curious and inquisitive, even trying to come into the house. One day she stayed in the pouring rain for hours and was absolutely soaked. Sadly she often gets chased away nowadays by large menacing magpies and ravens. But she has been a perfect companion and subject for my photography in lockdown.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.