I like birds and do as much as I can to encourage them into our garden - but if there is one bird that I could really do with seeing a lot less of it is the Magpie*.
Once upon a time these large, attractive birds were a rare sight in my corner of the world, but now they are every where - and most particularly they seem to be in my apple tree first thing in the morning, cackling away like guffawing crones.
If only I still had my trusty BSA Meteor ......
* The bird - not the early seventies kids TV programme that featured the gorgeous Jenny Hanley.
5 comments:
Spot on. I Hate 'em. As I type, there are 5 buggers at the bottom of the garden. How I've longed for my old BSA airgun!!!
Jenny Hanley? You're gettin' on a bit!
I thought you meant the football team!
Dickiebo - I am getting on a bit, I don't deny it!
JuliaM - I don't follow football anymore but I know the "Magpies" are Newcastle United and is also the nickname of one of my local clubs - Maidenhead United.
I don't hate them or any other football team - but I do hate what money has done to a game that I actually used to enjoy (watching and playing - I was actually a pretty handy player once).
These days the only team game I really take an interest in is cricket and guess what - yep, money is slowly ruining that game too.
I miss my old Airsporter but I don't think I could take it on myself to kill one of these lovely creatures - they always look so proud and neat although they can make a bit of a racket.
Live and let live, I suppose.
The RSPB says there is a real problem with the magpie, which has increased 20 fold since the 1960s.
The bird is not protected, and anyone can shoot and trap them.
They are meat eaters par excellence, and feed almost exclusively on eggs and fledgelings in the spring, with the result that the song-bird decline is largely ascribed to their depredations.
The main reason for the massive increase in magpie numbers is due to mankind - road kills. It provides them with a protein rich diet all the year round, and they are having 2/3 nesting sessions every year.
Kill 'em.
Like rabbits & grey squirrels, the ballooning numbers are taking a heavy toll on other wild life.
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