The Magpie is probably the most easy to identify member of the crow family, as it is black and white. For such a relatively large bird, it is quite timid and seems to move away if you just look in its direction, so it's not been easy to photograph one at Croome, even though there are always several there. They tend to be flying from treetop to treetop, or rummaging around on the ground scavenging.

Like most members of the crow family, they appear black, but when the light catches their feathers, the black becomes a beautiful iridescent green/blue. Magpies are also lovely in flight, having a long wide fan shaped tail (I've yet to capture this on camera at Croome)