Hello birders, this is my private property story.
I was doing a bird census in a Red Ironbark stand in the serenely named Daisy
Hill State Forest near Maryborough recently. A tirade of abuse was emanating
from about 150m away, from a private property at the bottom of the hill. I
assumed the man was abusing his dog, but then he came charging up the hill.
He claimed it was his land, and that he was going to ring his neighbour and get
him to shoot me. He was very animated, and was clenching his fists in rage.
This remarkable outburst took me by surprise, but I gradually calmed him down.
He shook my hand, apologised and even told me about an Orioles nest he had
last year. It turned out that someone had stolen his fridge recently. It
occurred
to me at that point that I was obviously the suspect. It was a very cold
morning,
(about -4 from memory) and my insistence that I was only a birdwatcher was
probably being contradicted by the fact that I am 6 ft 2 and 200 pounds and in
my
mid 20s, wearing black clothing and a black beanie with a pair of binoculars,
the
perfect robber!. Next time I am near a house I will be sure to at least put
the
beanie back in the car.
"watching swifties and dodging bullets"
Simon. K
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