Attack of the Magpie's - Oct 4, 2009

Liam and the other kids wanted to save a baby magpie that had jumped out of the tree and could not fly yet. It was wandering around in the road and almost got hit by a car. There were adult magpies watching it from all directions. The little light colored one in the distance. During his first attempt, just as he picked up the baby it started squawking bloody murder. Then out of nowhere, he was attacked by 4 others all in a squawking fit. It was like a scene from Alfred Hitchcocks The Birds. He used the baby (which was the same size as the full grown ones really)to shield himself from the attack and eventually just threw it back to all the swarming birds. We were all laughing hysterically as Liam stood there contemplating another attempt, then suddenly, silently one swooped down and pecked him right on the head. Wished we could have got that all on video, it would have been a winner.

As he gets closer he is swooped multiple times.

He finally gets in with the purpose of sticking it up in a tree away from the road so it wont get run over.

So he throws into the nearest tree as he is attacked from all angles. Only the tree he chose was 4 feet tall and right next to the street. Notice the swooping attack, this is the best the crappy phone camera would do.

And there it rests, perched in the top of the tiny tree. Liam is so proud of himself for saving the birdie.

And this is all he has to show for his efforts. The freaking bird pecked right through his scalp and drew blood. Guess we should have just left the darned thing alone from the start. When the kids went to school the next day, they went to the tree to check on the baby bird and it was still there. Liam was so excited and told all his friends, but unfortunately the bird was not there at the end of the school day.