Yesterday morning I thought I heard a Magpie chick calling quite close by. In the afternoon I found a young fledgeling in my yard. Not sure how it got there as it could flutter a bit but not fly. There are two nesting families either side
of my yard both around 200 metres distance. It couldn’t get over my fences but I thought it was safer in my yard as there are cats in the area. My two small dogs noticed it but didn’t bother it as I feed my local birds and they see maggies as a source of dropped
food.
After two days I didn’t see any adults come in to feed it. Today I corralled it near the front gate and watched the magpies out front come down to feed and take food up to a chick in the nest near Kingsford-Smith Drive but not paying any
attention to the chick in my yard, that had almost stopped begging. Before calling Wildlife, I got the chick into my dog pram then took it round to the park at the back. As soon as we neared the park the chick hopped up onto the rim of the pram and began begging
and I was swooped by three adults. I feed these magpies so they don't normally swoop me, which told me that these were the correct parents. I abandoned to pram to find a long stick and threw some food for the adults. One of them eventually went and fed the
chick confirming it belonged here. Using the long stick for protection I pushed the pram close to the nearest trees while fending off the adults, who actually hit the stick a few times. The chick hopped down to the ground and I made my retreat. The chick has
been able to hop up onto higher objects and the nearest tree does have a low branch so hopefully it is now home and safe, but I probably won't be able to walk through the park for a while now.
I risked life and limb to return their baby and they didn’t show any appreciation.
Alison
