A little story. In this bumper Noisy Miner breeding season, about a week ago I noticed a prospective fledgling attached to the nest by string entangled with its foot. While miners are not everyone’s favourite bird,
I became concerned to see the tethered bird being fed daily, with the prospect that weeks might pass while it became full-grown, to the distress of the fed bird and the attendant feeders, about 5 number. I made an attempt to dislodge the nest with my golf
ball retriever, but the nest was too high. This morning I decided to make a more determined attempt. I got a roll of wide sticky tape and attached a camping pole to the golf ball retriever. I also attached a hook made with a wire coat hanger to the other end.
This device was just long enough to reach the nest. I won’t say it was easy but to a chorus of abuse from miners and butcherbirds I managed to bring it off. It was a great relief to see the freed bird finally take wing with all its (presumed) friends. Before
I disassembled the device I took a photo of it . It is 7m long. A few peahens have been included for scale. In the feeding scene below, the dy on the left is the size that our tied-up bird would have been in 2-3 days. Certainly capable of flight and following
adults around.
