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Posts about ravens and golf balls remind me that, one evening, around last
Christmas time, we noticed a green, gas-filled toy balloon lodged high in our
Silver Birch. Early next morning, four Pied Currawongs were crowded around the
balloon calling loudly. Perhaps they perceived it as a threat, food item or
object of curiosity.
"Oh, peck it, please!", I implored. Serendipity! A few moments later the
balloon exploded with a startlingly loud report. The gang of four leapt from the
birch and decamped as if they'd just experienced a near miss from a rocket
propelled grenade. Lovely. Couldn't have happened to a nicer species.
Interestingly, three or four times during the ensuing couple of days, we
saw a Red Wattlebird collecting fragments of the balloon and flying away with
them. Perhaps it was using them for nest construction. We hoped it didn't
attempt to eat the stuff.
John K. Layton
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