Adele Brand.

The magpie rhyme has run short. There are 22 chalkand- ebony chatterers milling about the field’s edge, chuckling from trees or scavenging for grubs. It is the winter social season, and these supersized flocks allow unpaired magpies to find new mates.

But on the other side of the meadow, huddled into a bare hedgerow still damp with January’s record-breaking rain, a single fox awakes. He ambles away from his dripping shelter. He doesn’t approach the magpie flock, but I’ve no doubt that he’s noticed – they don’t miss much. Fox and magpie: there is something special about seeing them together, our two most intelligent wild creatures subtly vying like masters at chess.

Like ravens following wolves in the Canadian forests, magpies seem irresistibly drawn to the spectacle of a fox on the move – a black-andwhite train that ever grows, perching on fence-posts, swooping overhead.

Of course magpies will steal scraps from whatever prey their fox manages to catch, but their interest is far more than that – curiosity at a potential danger and rival, and perhaps even amusement.

Like crows and ravens, magpies have a well-documented playful streak, and sometimes it’s hard to judge if they’re pecking a fox’s brush to hassle them away or just in jest.

But it’s not always negative for the fox. They can show amazing tolerance to a magpie that removes moulting fur during spring. Their relationship is a rivalry, but one with room for an occasional truce. You can follow Adele's wildlife blog at http://foxescrossing. wordpress.com