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Magpie Rescue

Wildlife ARC 24 hour number 4325 0666

(Animal Rescue and Care)

I hated this solution. The little magpie looked wet and lonely as the light faded. At least he was safe for the night. I called Wildlife ARC and gave the news, promising to call with an update on Sunday.

10am.Sat 3rd Oct 2009. The persistance of the baby bird's begging noises attracted me to the door. On the driveway by the bird feeders stood a bedraggled and unhappy magpie nestling.

It saw me and squatted closer to the ground. It's parents squalled and warbled. They drove it back into the yard behind the house. The rain was falling continuously and the little creature stood in the middle of the backyard looking miserable and shivering while his parents warbled.

Some little chunks of sausage I tossed them were dissected and fed to the miserable bag of feathers on the lawn.

The parents flew off after a few swoops at me so I squatted and called the baby. It came over to me slowly in jerky staggering movements. Being blown from a nest four-storeys up a tree and then soaked for several hours must have really hurt.

I don't know what it's parents had told it but it wobbled over and perched by my hand on the grass as though we had known each other for years 

The parents watched on from a distance as though they hoped I had some solution. I had been feeding and chatting with local magpie clans for several generations and I hear it is not uncommon for birds of all sorts to come to trusted people for help. Not knowing what to do with it I reached out and gently surrounded it with my hand. It panicked and let out a squawk. The air behind my ears was filled with the vicious cracks of magpies swooping as his parents reacted to his call for help. Fortunately they contained their ire quickly and I encouraged the baby onto my hand.

It perched there for a moment looking as miserable as any creature I have ever seen before toppling off. It seemed to have no sense of balance and even in the grass it staggered like a drunken sailor as it went.

Unable to think of any solution to the bird's distress I left it in long grass by the back fence and went inside to ring Wildlife ARC. I chose the ARC because long ago I had been a member and worked alonside Gwen Parry-Jones and the rest in animal rescues and the challenge to have the Matcham Reserve protected as a flying fox habitat

The 24 hour animal rescue line was manned by quite a nice girl. There were a couple of calls back and forth and at one point she was enjoying watching the feeding of a baby grey-headed flying fox. We shared stories briefly and she ended up informing me that presently the accepted method for dealing with such emergencies was to bolt an ice-cream container a few meters up a tree trunk.

I am disabled and quite ill. Bones and disks in my neck are crushed, the left arm, leg and hip were all crushed in an accident and hurt like hell as well as missing 30% of the muscle. Both shoulders have some tendon condition that includes tearing. Asthma so severe that dressing can be a chore. Then there is my drill. It was a rechargable one but I havent charged it in over six years. Bummer!

There was an old 2 litre ice-cream container in the garage so some holes were cut in it. It was laced to the tree trunk with a rope and holes drilled in the bottom with a hand drill. I have a step ladder about 1.5 meters high and the rain sheeted, the wind blew and the legs sunk into the grass as I struggled up and eventually tied the container almost three meters up the trunk..

There was a wind-blown collection of dry,soft leaves by the side of the house so the ladder was again climbed and a few handfuls thrown in.

After the failure of the ice-cream container there wasn't much else that would do in the rain

The baby magpie had followed me to the ladder and watched as I built the make-shift nest so at least I didn't have to chase it!. It would climb onto my hand if if put it in front of the little bird's legs and swept it back but it was still complaining and each time it did I would get another round of being swooped by the parents. It climbed onto a thick branch I held out for it and was lifted to the container on the tree trunk. Two seconds was all it took to realize the new nest was far too small and baby simply toppled off in disgust. I wasn't feeling so great myself!

I could hardly move so I went and spent a few moments sitting on a stool staring at the floor in the garage. Right where I was staring sat a cheap green plastic tool-box. There wasn't much else that would do so it had a few holes hacked in the bottom to let water out . Slits were cut in the side to string ropes through and some more leaf-litter placed in the bottom. I sat and stared at the ladder. Water trickled down my face and I didn't want to climb it again.

After much wrestling and clinging to the bark the new plastic econo-nest was tied in place.

Baby sat on the branch as required but the new nest was positioned too awkwardly to get the little bird to hop off the brach. It fell to the ground with a helpless splat.

It was encouraged onto my wrist and I started up the ladder. Near the top I realized I could not hang on to the tree with one hand. The ladder slid left and my weak leg started to collapse!

The bird didn't like being on my wrist at all so it hopped onto my shoulder. I hugged the tree trunk and seeing my hands were otherwise engaged the nestling hopped onto my head. It called to its parents and they moved to sit in the branches above me and have a family conversation. I hugged the tree.

Getting balance I reached for the baby who ran across my back and over my shoulder before toppling off again. I grabbed it as it shot past my hand and threw myself at the trunk to establish some connection with a solid object. Bang! I ate bark as my face slapped into it.

I threw bird back onto my shoulder as the ladder tilted again. His parents made concerned little croaks and he staggered over my head, up my arm and into the plastic habitat. Easy!

Dripping and wheezing I limped back into the house, fell into a pair of dry track pants and prepared to call Wildlife ARC with the tale.

Through the window a parent magpie could be seen trying to land on the new nest and failing. She was unable to land under the slight overhang to feed the baby! She landed on the grass, called baby and it toppled out of the tool-box onto the grass below!

Baby had not hit the ground when the female Butcher bird leapt into the nest and started to settle herself in. I wondered what she had been thinking. She had been sitting just a few branches away the whole time!

By now it was cold, the light was going and I was not getting about very well. Parent and baby both sat in the grass staring as I picked up a branch that had been blown from the tree and struggled back up the ladder. It could not stay at ground level. The neighbors have cats!

The Butcher bird took off when I climbed back up the damned ladder. Pulling the plastic box around the trunk a little left enough slack in the ropes to tie the branch across the top. Moving the nest into the new position had made it slope and placed it out of the rain-shadow so baby would be wet and a bit uncomfortable but as soon as the whole thing was done baby practically leapt onto my wrist. It had had more than enough that day and needed a sleep so it was in the nest in moments and the parent was waiting on the new perch with food as I staggered off the ladder

The nestling had not hit the ground when it's place in the nest was taken by the female Butcher bird