September & October are Magpie season in Toowoomba, in Australia actually I think and for many people this strikes terror in their hearts. The parent Magpies can be so viscous as they protect their babies. We have for several years now had families of birds come an visit us. They tap on our kitchen window if there is no dry dog food in our puppies bowls. They drink the water from the dog bowls and they proudly bring their babies for us to see. This Mum was feeding her little one the meat were tossing to her. The baby squawking loudly in anticipation of her mouthful. A very patient and doting mother in deed. Next season we will probably see the baby bring her family to us. We are never swooped or attacked by any of the birds as we go for our walks in the reserve and surrounding streets. We see many people walking with sticks raised in an attempt to fend off the attacks of the birds. We feel special knowing that the birds must know and accept us as we walk through the park and they wink at us. For some they are a pest for us family.
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12 years ago
how cool that the birds accept you. what a wonderful thing.
ReplyDeleteThat is really great they accept you.
ReplyDeleteWe have magpies all the time in the UK...but here in Canada...I haven't seen one yet.
Do you have the song"One for sorrow,2 for Joy,3 for a girl,4 for a boy"(and so on)?
Also in the Uk...you must salute to a magpie who is on their own, and say"good day mr.magpie" if not it'll bring you bad luck.
Lovely photo...and wonderful memories you have brought back.Thank you!
Char
How very cool! It'd be neat to have them here in Illinois, tapping at my backdoor :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome shot, too.
How fascinating! We don't have them here, but I've always thought that they are really beautiful birds. You make me wonder if I would think the same if they were in MY neighborhood!
ReplyDelete:-D
No magpies around here. They are very beautiful, even if they can be pests.
ReplyDeletethat's so interesting. thanks for sharing about these birds. i like the composition of this shot - the baby looking up the mother looking down - a sort of zigzag
ReplyDelete...Once again, this is what I love about blogging...taking a look at life on the other side of the world...No Magpies here in New England but if there were I hope I would be as kind and understanding of them as you are...
ReplyDeleteObviously your magpies have heard the old saying, "don't bite the hand that feeds you". The only time I've ever seen them was in Colorado when we were camping. They're very large!
ReplyDeleteI would think these birds are kin to our black "crows" down south. There were six of them in my back yard eating mac-n-cheese that I tossed out for them today....so funny to watch them.
ReplyDeletei see them differently today..they are big too!
ReplyDeleteThat's a interesting story. It reminds me of something I heard on NPR recently about this scientist that was studying crows. It seems that he concluded that they have some ability to recognize faces. They would swoop and fuss at the people they didn't like, but never act the same way to the ones who had been kind to them.
ReplyDeleteoh wow! how neat! love the story to go with the photo. very interesting!
ReplyDeleteApparently magpies remember you and will come back to the same spot and attack the same people each year.
ReplyDeleteThis must ring true for the people they like too.