Here, we are experiencing high winds. The girls and I went for a short walk before nap time and it was the longest "short walk" of my life. We maybe covered 1/2 a mile in 1/2 an hour! The girls enjoyed picking dandelions and yellow leaves off the ground. Fall is BEAUTIFUL! Now they are sleeping peacefully.
Thanks to the couple that we are relieving in Australia, I received an email newsletter from the U.S. Embassy in Canberra. It was FULL of such great information and I really appreciated receiving it UNTIL...it scared the pants off me!
Within this newsletter there was an article with tips on how to avoid Swooping Magpies. This was not just a 1 page flyer with tips, but a 2 page "book" on how to protect yourself and avoid Swooping Magpies. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what I am talking about:
Beautiful, right?!?
Not if it's coming at your head! AHHH!I have to inform you why this portion of the newsletter scared the pants off me! I am not a big fan of BIRDS! I respect them, live with them, appreciate them, think they are beautiful and amazing creatures, but they don't do those things back to me. Ever since I was a small child, birds have not liked me. Here are a few examples:
When I was about 6 years old, I was at a zoo and made the mistake of standing too close to a Canadian goose. It flew directly over my head, hung in the air above me, flapping it's wings, honking and probably making me pee my pants (I can't remember), but I know I was scared.
When I was about 6 years old, I was at a zoo and made the mistake of standing too close to a Canadian goose. It flew directly over my head, hung in the air above me, flapping it's wings, honking and probably making me pee my pants (I can't remember), but I know I was scared. **a special note on this topic: In college I dared one of my BFFs to touch a Canadian Goose when we were out on a walk and she did! Brave soul!
2nd: In high school, I would run along a small river near my home. As I was running one beautiful afternoon, a crane decided to chase me for at least a 1/2 mile. I was so relieved when I finally reached my car, turned around, and saw the bird headed the other way! I was so scared it took me a long time to go back to that path.
Most recently: When I moved into my last house in Washington, we had these big black birds (ravens/crows/people call them different names) that hung out in our yard. It was like they were guarding our house and were not happy that we were there. They would hang on the telephone wires and look down at us and squawk at us. One day I noticed they were dive bombing (a.k.a swooping) at our dogs. Luckily those ones never dive bombed me!! Then west niles disease knocked most of them out. This last spring, they arrived in our neighborhood again. At the park near our house they started to swoop at me and other passersby. I remember running for dear life with three little kiddos on my stroller as 2 birds tried to peck my eye balls out! (one more reason I am happy to not be living in Bremerton)
2nd: In high school, I would run along a small river near my home. As I was running one beautiful afternoon, a crane decided to chase me for at least a 1/2 mile. I was so relieved when I finally reached my car, turned around, and saw the bird headed the other way! I was so scared it took me a long time to go back to that path.
Most recently: When I moved into my last house in Washington, we had these big black birds (ravens/crows/people call them different names) that hung out in our yard. It was like they were guarding our house and were not happy that we were there. They would hang on the telephone wires and look down at us and squawk at us. One day I noticed they were dive bombing (a.k.a swooping) at our dogs. Luckily those ones never dive bombed me!! Then west niles disease knocked most of them out. This last spring, they arrived in our neighborhood again. At the park near our house they started to swoop at me and other passersby. I remember running for dear life with three little kiddos on my stroller as 2 birds tried to peck my eye balls out! (one more reason I am happy to not be living in Bremerton)In the newsletter, they gave great tips and ideas on how to help and I just might have to use them! I really did appreciate getting that newsletter and it helps me look forward to this big move even more.
On the Aussie side: Matt is doing really well there. He has a 3 day weekend this weekend, and is enjoying exploring and shopping a bit. The family that Matt is relieving has been incredibly hospitable, inviting him over for multiple meals and getting him acquainted with the community and office.
Well, I'm off to see what kind of trouble I can get into while the girls take their naps!
Enjoy today!
haha yes swooping season can be an interesting time! It's actually already started and will go through to early summer. Magpies are very closely related to crows and ravens so what you experienced before is the sort of thing that Australian magpies will sometimes do as well. Magpies are very terretorial, especially in the baby bird season when they have eggs and little ones to look over. I have heard that only 10% of all male magpies will ever swoop (and females generally never swoop). They think that it is usually the males who have experienced cruelty from humans before and get very nervous when any humans approach their nest. For some reason it is most likely to happen to people on bikes, too, which is not a bad thing becuase if you are on a bike you should be wearing a helmut anyway!
ReplyDeleteYou'll enjoy the magpies, they have an amazing chortle and are extremely intelligent interesting little creatures!
Oh sorry, this is Carly Wilson by the way :)
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