Michelle Hartnett, Such a stickybeak (ANIMALS 2023)

This is ‘Maverick’, the fast flying, wild magpie who decided my house was his favourite place to visit for several months during 2022. He would often perch himself on my back verandah table in the morning, warble and tap at the back door until I came outside. One of his favourite things to do was to have a ‘stickybeak’ inside my house, through my back screen doors, which is what I captured him doing in this photo as the early morning light created some shadow play around him. He wasn’t at all disturbed by the camera and I’m sure he would have flown inside and made himself right at home if he’d had the opportunity! I never quite figured out what Maverick loved to look at inside, but this daily ritual certainly gave me lots of laughs and some memorable photo opportunities.

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