Magpies on the Warpath

The first couple of days of springtime have given us a welcome relief from the cold and bleakness of winter. It was a welcome experience to be able to go outside, without being enclosed in a multitude of layers of clothing. Everywhere in the neighbourhood the blossoms are decorating the streets and gardens. If it wasn't for the gale force winds, it would actually be almost perfect.

The other unwelcome feature of this time of the year is that many of the local birds go completely psycho. Why is it that tiny feathered creatures suddenly take on the behaviour of demons ? As if the COVID 19 was not bad enough, now when we leave the house for our 60 minutes a day of freedom, we have to run the risk of having our ear lobes ripped off.

This morning I headed off on my bike for a short ride to Pakenham East and back. That is as far as I can go at the moment, without incurring the wrath of the 5 km bubble police. Although the wind was blowing at about 40 kph, it was actually quite helpful for about half of the time. I was actually feeling quite good until I heard an ominous sound coming from somewhere behind my right shoulder.

A shadow of a large bird appeared on the ground in front of me. I was instantly gripped by an irrational fear of all things avian. I decided to look the evil attacker right in the eye, even though I am pretty hopeless at looking behind me when I am riding. For a fleeting instant the approaching magpie seemed to reconsider its intentions and changed direction. I felt like I had scored a minor victory.

A short distance further along the path, the entire sequence was repeated. Once again the attack was aborted. but by then I was rattled. For the rest of the ride I could not get it out of my head that the magpie was going to return, accompanied by about 20 of his psychomates. I did not finally relax until I had ridden into my own driveway.

The other news today was that the day's count had risen to 113. This was a disappointing result, when we were all wanting it to go down. There have been rumours of what the next stage of restrictions will entail, but the Premier has claimed that they are all false. If they are true, we will have very little to look forward to, other than a possible increase in the time allowed for daily exercise from one hour to two hours. After such a long period of separation from our family and friends, we are really longing for human contact again.Read more