View Full Version : Magpie Seen
This is for all the bird watchers out there.
While i was travelling fromThurso to Malvech at 11.20 this morning (13/1/06)
Just after the Helmsdale turning i saw a pair of Magpie flying from shrub to shrub.
I know the Magpie very well because they are quite comon in the area i used to live.
For thoes who are'nt familiar they are black and white with a very long tail and are about the size of a black headed gull.
If you can get a close look you will find they have some blueish green colouring.
If you want further information on the location of sighting e-mail me on colinb51@aol.com
Theres quite a community of magpies living up StrathHalladle. I first spotted a pair about 10 years ago. Last year I saw a flock of 8 about 4 miles up the Strath from where you spotted them. They look a bit like a parrot in flight.
I was a Blue Peter fan myself but hey, it takes all kinds!
I too have seen them on the boundaries of Caithness and Sutherland. Elegant looking birds but quite a menace, they will rob other birds nests, like to line their own with shiney things and can be quite agressive towards other avian species.
Any 1 remember this from their childhood?
1 for sorrow,
2 for joy,
3 for a letter.
4 for a boy etc all the way up to 10.
I was taught to recite this when counting Maggety Pies.
landmarker
13-Jan-06, 23:17
Magpies are a pest around here. We need a cull. They take the eggs from the nests of smaller songbirds. Given that these are already under attack from pesky grey squirrels (tree rats) there are fewer and fewer small birds around.
How about a new mantra
Ones ideal
Two's a pest
Anymore than three
shoot the beggars.
Magpies are a pest around here. We need a cull. They take the eggs from the nests of smaller songbirds. Given that these are already under attack from pesky grey squirrels (tree rats) there are fewer and fewer small birds around.
When the RSPB (http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/advice/predatorprey/index.asp) call for a cull on magpies to save little birds then I will join your camp. Predation is the way of things in nature. Until then I will be on the lookout for these elegant birds.
Its interesting that these birds have managed to survive and colonise an area of the north where their prescence poses a so-called danger to the economy of the area.
I recently heard of someone who actually had a magpie figure out how to get into a rabbit hutch and killed all of the kits. Smart creatures..
landmarker
14-Jan-06, 00:38
When the RSPB (http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/advice/predatorprey/index.asp) call for a cull on magpies to save little birds then I will join your camp. Predation is the way of things in nature. Until then I will be on the lookout for these elegant birds.
Ahh, red in tooth and claw. Year upon year Blackbirds nest in our Ivy at the back of the house, year upon year Magpies (I've seen 'em twice myself) raid the nest for the eggs. Horrible, squawking and swaggering creatures full of self-importance. Bully birds we call them ! I dont deny that in small numbers they add to the rich tapestry of a regions fauna but when populations swell so much they threaten other species then something needs to be done. This increase in numbers has taken place over three or four years. Rapid and regrettable.
Should the RSPB send you the call to cull Rheghead, you can come down here and join me in a Newcastle United shirt stealthily stalking our ivy.
There's an over-population of corvids in the UK.
The magpie is the most colourful type of crow, apart from the jay.
I've never seen one in Caithness.
We've got a pair of ravens nesting near us, I believe they are protected.
Magpies are known to eat ticks from sheep's backs, are they good for farmers?
Magpies are known to eat ticks from sheep's backs, are they good for farmers?
No, a good balanced diet is best for a working farmer. Though if push came to shove, I'm sure we'd all have a taste of the over-fed ticks.
;)
George Brims
14-Jan-06, 22:06
I saw a magpie once back in the late 60s in Wick, just along the street from the high school. I remember thinking at first it was a blackbrd with a white streak! It must have decided it was too cold and didn't stay. I am sure as the climate warms (yes Pres Bush, it is happening) they will push their way north.
From www.rspb.org.uk
Legal control methods
The RSPB does not oppose legal, site-specific control of magpies, as long as control does not threaten the conservation status of the species. The RSPB is seeking to develop non-lethal methods of controlling corvid predation on its reserves.
In New Zealand we just shoot them. Shotguns are best.
Having said that, I note that on the RSPB site they state that Magpies are non-existent in The Highlands. Maybe someone should enlighten them.
Very interested to hear about magpies in Strathhalladale probably following roe deer, sika deer, pine martens etc which have spread north with the dark satanic, valueless spruce and pine plantations which the RSPB are so industriously trying to eradicate now from Alltnabreac onwards.
What really gets up my nose is when a conservation type individual (I'm afraid usually from outwith Scotland) talks about crow, otter, or some other species in the singular instead of crows and otters. Can't help thinking it's just a pompous way to add gravitas to their pronouncements, or has there been some change to grammar and the use of language which has passed me by?
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