I found 3 little blue eggs on the lawn today - all had been neatly pecked
open & the contents were gone.

"Jayne" wrote in message
...
I found 3 little blue eggs on the lawn today - all had been neatly pecked
open & the contents were gone.

My house backs onto a disused railway embankment so it is an ideal nature
reserve,& I watched from my kitchen window yesterday while a fox climbed up
some russian vine & raided a nest of small birds I think they are robins
"crafty ole fox"

Malcolm pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Thu, 15 May 2003 08:13:02 GMT, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ On Thu, 15 May 2003 08:01:07 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
^ wrote:
^
^ pushed briefly to the front of the queue on Wed, 14
^ May 2003 22:47:38 GMT, and nailed this to the shed door:
^
^ ^ Would a magpie attack a robin's nest? I saw two robins setting up a
^ ^ nest in a birdhouse in my back yard, then didn't see them for a few
^ ^ weeks, so I had a look in the nest and there was an egg in it. I left
^ ^ things alone but didn't see the robins any more. Then last week I
^ ^ noticed that the nest had been pulled out of the birdhouse. I thought
^ ^ maybe a rat or cat had been at it, as all trace of the egg was gone.
^ ^ I put the nest back in the birdhouse just to see what would happen,
^ ^ and today it was pulled out again. I saw a magpie looking around the
^ ^ yard yesterday, so I'm wondering if it could be the culprit. If so,
^ ^ could it have chased off the robins in the first place?
^
^ I would certainly think so. Where I work, the building is like a
^ hollow square, built around a large open garden/quadrangle thing.
^ Every year, ducks come and nest there - it's become quite an annual
^ event, seeing how many young will be raised every year. This year is a
^ record - 18 - but it's also the first year I can remember where the
^ numbers were not reduced by at least 50% by magpies,
^
^ Lie. Have you actually seen a magpie taking the chicks? I very much
^ doubt it!

No, of course not. Just because my office is on the first floor,
looking inwards, adjacent to a tree that the magpies sit in, and just
because I get occasionally alerted to look out when the mother duck
quacks blue murder when an ambush occurs and she spots it ... no, I
never saw a thing. I just took the time to chime in because I'm a
compulsive magpie-hating liar.

^ who given half a
^ chance will attack and kill the ducklings when they they are still
^ very small.
^
^ That is a blatant lie.

Whoo-hoo, you caught me out there. I just took the time to write it
all for the sheer malicious fun of it, but you got me bang to rights,
Guv. I'll need to get up earlier in the morning to catch /you/ out.

Andy

--
sparge at globalnet point co point uk

Speculate to accumulate;
catabolize to anabolize;
reculer pour mieux sauter.

On Fri, 16 May 2003 06:15:04 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
wrote:

Malcolm pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Thu, 15 May 2003 08:13:02 GMT, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ On Thu, 15 May 2003 08:01:07 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
^ wrote:
^
^ pushed briefly to the front of the queue on Wed, 14
^ May 2003 22:47:38 GMT, and nailed this to the shed door:
^
^ ^ Would a magpie attack a robin's nest? I saw two robins setting up a
^ ^ nest in a birdhouse in my back yard, then didn't see them for a few
^ ^ weeks, so I had a look in the nest and there was an egg in it. I left
^ ^ things alone but didn't see the robins any more. Then last week I
^ ^ noticed that the nest had been pulled out of the birdhouse. I thought
^ ^ maybe a rat or cat had been at it, as all trace of the egg was gone.
^ ^ I put the nest back in the birdhouse just to see what would happen,
^ ^ and today it was pulled out again. I saw a magpie looking around the
^ ^ yard yesterday, so I'm wondering if it could be the culprit. If so,
^ ^ could it have chased off the robins in the first place?
^
^ I would certainly think so. Where I work, the building is like a
^ hollow square, built around a large open garden/quadrangle thing.
^ Every year, ducks come and nest there - it's become quite an annual
^ event, seeing how many young will be raised every year. This year is a
^ record - 18 - but it's also the first year I can remember where the
^ numbers were not reduced by at least 50% by magpies,
^
^ Lie. Have you actually seen a magpie taking the chicks? I very much
^ doubt it!

No, of course not. Just because my office is on the first floor,
looking inwards, adjacent to a tree that the magpies sit in, and just
because I get occasionally alerted to look out when the mother duck
quacks blue murder when an ambush occurs and she spots it ... no, I
never saw a thing. I just took the time to chime in because I'm a
compulsive magpie-hating liar.

Precisely. This would be why there is no substantive fact to back it
up, no research, nothing.

^ who given half a
^ chance will attack and kill the ducklings when they they are still
^ very small.
^
^ That is a blatant lie.

Whoo-hoo, you caught me out there. I just took the time to write it
all for the sheer malicious fun of it, but you got me bang to rights,
Guv. I'll need to get up earlier in the morning to catch /you/ out.

That's OK, you're not alone in making thing up to get attention, this
is why the magpie got the had name in the first place. Simple folk
just sort of latch on.

Hope it's been an education for you.



--








So, you dont like reasoned,
well thought out, civil debate?

I understand.

/´¯/)
/¯../
/..../
/´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
/'/.../..../......./¨¯\
('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
\.................'...../
''...\.......... _.·´
\..............(
\.............\..

You should all think yourselves lucky, in Australia Magpies are
commonly known to attack people. They dive bomb and peck their
victims, which is particularly effective against young children. When
I was there a few years ago there was a news report of a todler being
attacked and killed by a magpie in a playground.

They are all just highly evolved dinosaurs and act accordingly.

"geoff" wrote in message
...
Urglers,

snip
- was killed - perchance those b . . . . y cats again - that nest
would be deserted.

snipBut that's Nature I suppose and we should not denigrate
birds for doing what comes naturally.

Geoff

eeerr, but fine to denigrate cats for doing what comes naturally then ?
Duncan

"Druss" wrote in message news:ba2nu9
Urglers,

snip
- was killed - perchance those b . . . . y cats again - that nest
would be deserted.

snipBut that's Nature I suppose and we should not denigrate
birds for doing what comes naturally.

Geoff

eeerr, but fine to denigrate cats for doing what comes naturally then ?
Duncan



I was expecting someone who did not have the brain in gear to say something
like that BUT cats are not naturally found in the UK except a few feral ones
and some wild cats in Scotland therefore one cannot say that birds are
facing a natural enemy in domestic cats. QED

Geoff

Malcolm pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Fri, 16 May 2003 07:38:45 GMT, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ On Fri, 16 May 2003 06:15:04 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
^ wrote:
^
^ Malcolm pushed briefly to the front of the
^ queue on Thu, 15 May 2003 08:13:02 GMT, and nailed this to the shed
^ door:
^
^ ^ On Thu, 15 May 2003 08:01:07 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
^ ^ wrote:
^ ^
^ ^ pushed briefly to the front of the queue on Wed, 14
^ ^ May 2003 22:47:38 GMT, and nailed this to the shed door:
^ ^
^ ^ ^ Would a magpie attack a robin's nest? I saw two robins setting up a
^ ^ ^ nest in a birdhouse in my back yard, then didn't see them for a few
^ ^ ^ weeks, so I had a look in the nest and there was an egg in it. I left
^ ^ ^ things alone but didn't see the robins any more. Then last week I
^ ^ ^ noticed that the nest had been pulled out of the birdhouse. I thought
^ ^ ^ maybe a rat or cat had been at it, as all trace of the egg was gone.
^ ^ ^ I put the nest back in the birdhouse just to see what would happen,
^ ^ ^ and today it was pulled out again. I saw a magpie looking around the
^ ^ ^ yard yesterday, so I'm wondering if it could be the culprit. If so,
^ ^ ^ could it have chased off the robins in the first place?
^ ^
^ ^ I would certainly think so. Where I work, the building is like a
^ ^ hollow square, built around a large open garden/quadrangle thing.
^ ^ Every year, ducks come and nest there - it's become quite an annual
^ ^ event, seeing how many young will be raised every year. This year is a
^ ^ record - 18 - but it's also the first year I can remember where the
^ ^ numbers were not reduced by at least 50% by magpies,
^ ^
^ ^ Lie. Have you actually seen a magpie taking the chicks? I very much
^ ^ doubt it!
^
^ No, of course not. Just because my office is on the first floor,
^ looking inwards, adjacent to a tree that the magpies sit in, and just
^ because I get occasionally alerted to look out when the mother duck
^ quacks blue murder when an ambush occurs and she spots it ... no, I
^ never saw a thing. I just took the time to chime in because I'm a
^ compulsive magpie-hating liar.
^
^ Precisely. This would be why there is no substantive fact to back it
^ up, no research, nothing.

Are you for real? Or perhaps American? Let mw rephrase what I said -
which related my personal experience, not my belief - in terms
suitable for the sarcasm-blind:

My office is on the first floor. It looks inwards, adjacent to a tree
that the magpies sit in. Occasionally I get alerted to look out when
the mother duck quacks blue murder when an ambush occurs and she spots
it. On such occasions, yes, I have seen a magpie taking a chick.

This is not a "blatant lie". It is my personal experience. You may not
like it, but tough. And it may not generalize to ducklings in the
wild, but I never claimed that it did. I claimed that it led me to
judge as credible the possibility that a magpie might attack a robin's
nest.

^ ^ who given half a
^ ^ chance will attack and kill the ducklings when they they are still
^ ^ very small.
^ ^
^ ^ That is a blatant lie.
^
^ Whoo-hoo, you caught me out there. I just took the time to write it
^ all for the sheer malicious fun of it, but you got me bang to rights,
^ Guv. I'll need to get up earlier in the morning to catch /you/ out.
^
^ That's OK, you're not alone in making thing up to get attention, this
^ is why the magpie got the had name in the first place. Simple folk
^ just sort of latch on.
^
^ Hope it's been an education for you.

Oh, assuredly. It's taught me that someone I never met believes the
magpie to be an innocent victim of bad press; and that that person
holds that belief so strongly that any testimony of personal
experience counter to that belief must in their opinion necessarily be
perjury. Hardly the most valuable lesson I ever learnt, but thanks. I
hope it's been an education for you too, but somehow I doubt it.

So, you don't like facts that challenge your prejudice? I understand.

^ So, you dont like reasoned,
^ well thought out, civil debate?
^
^ I understand.

Ah, sweet irony.

Andy

--
sparge at globalnet point co point uk

"It's your fault we don't have a no-blame culture"
Lee Hartley, RHM Technology

On Fri, 16 May 2003 22:57:34 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
wrote:

Malcolm pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Fri, 16 May 2003 07:38:45 GMT, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ On Fri, 16 May 2003 06:15:04 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
^ wrote:
^
^ Malcolm pushed briefly to the front of the
^ queue on Thu, 15 May 2003 08:13:02 GMT, and nailed this to the shed
^ door:
^
^ ^ On Thu, 15 May 2003 08:01:07 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
^ ^ wrote:
^ ^
^ ^ pushed briefly to the front of the queue on Wed, 14
^ ^ May 2003 22:47:38 GMT, and nailed this to the shed door:
^ ^
^ ^ ^ Would a magpie attack a robin's nest? I saw two robins setting up a
^ ^ ^ nest in a birdhouse in my back yard, then didn't see them for a few
^ ^ ^ weeks, so I had a look in the nest and there was an egg in it. I left
^ ^ ^ things alone but didn't see the robins any more. Then last week I
^ ^ ^ noticed that the nest had been pulled out of the birdhouse. I thought
^ ^ ^ maybe a rat or cat had been at it, as all trace of the egg was gone.
^ ^ ^ I put the nest back in the birdhouse just to see what would happen,
^ ^ ^ and today it was pulled out again. I saw a magpie looking around the
^ ^ ^ yard yesterday, so I'm wondering if it could be the culprit. If so,
^ ^ ^ could it have chased off the robins in the first place?
^ ^
^ ^ I would certainly think so. Where I work, the building is like a
^ ^ hollow square, built around a large open garden/quadrangle thing.
^ ^ Every year, ducks come and nest there - it's become quite an annual
^ ^ event, seeing how many young will be raised every year. This year is a
^ ^ record - 18 - but it's also the first year I can remember where the
^ ^ numbers were not reduced by at least 50% by magpies,
^ ^
^ ^ Lie. Have you actually seen a magpie taking the chicks? I very much
^ ^ doubt it!
^
^ No, of course not. Just because my office is on the first floor,
^ looking inwards, adjacent to a tree that the magpies sit in, and just
^ because I get occasionally alerted to look out when the mother duck
^ quacks blue murder when an ambush occurs and she spots it ... no, I
^ never saw a thing. I just took the time to chime in because I'm a
^ compulsive magpie-hating liar.
^
^ Precisely. This would be why there is no substantive fact to back it
^ up, no research, nothing.

Are you for real? Or perhaps American? Let mw rephrase what I said -
which related my personal experience, not my belief - in terms
suitable for the sarcasm-blind:

It would appear you are the one with a propensity for seeing things?

My office is on the first floor. It looks inwards, adjacent to a tree
that the magpies sit in. Occasionally I get alerted to look out when
the mother duck quacks blue murder when an ambush occurs and she spots
it. On such occasions, yes, I have seen a magpie taking a chick.

Liar.

This is not a "blatant lie". It is my personal experience. You may not
like it, but tough. And it may not generalize to ducklings in the
wild, but I never claimed that it did. I claimed that it led me to
judge as credible the possibility that a magpie might attack a robin's
nest.

No, you claim the magpie is to blame for all the worlds ills, based on
your ignorance of magpies.

^ ^ who given half a
^ ^ chance will attack and kill the ducklings when they they are still
^ ^ very small.
^ ^
^ ^ That is a blatant lie.
^
^ Whoo-hoo, you caught me out there. I just took the time to write it
^ all for the sheer malicious fun of it, but you got me bang to rights,
^ Guv. I'll need to get up earlier in the morning to catch /you/ out.
^
^ That's OK, you're not alone in making thing up to get attention, this
^ is why the magpie got the had name in the first place. Simple folk
^ just sort of latch on.
^
^ Hope it's been an education for you.

Oh, assuredly. It's taught me that someone I never met believes the
magpie to be an innocent victim of bad press;

Which it largely is.

and that that person
holds that belief so strongly that any testimony of personal
experience counter to that belief must in their opinion necessarily be
perjury. Hardly the most valuable lesson I ever learnt, but thanks. I
hope it's been an education for you too, but somehow I doubt it.

Well if you tell porky pies, you must expect to get caught.

So, you don't like facts that challenge your prejudice? I understand.

Prejudice? excuse me!

^ So, you dont like reasoned,
^ well thought out, civil debate?
^
^ I understand.

Ah, sweet irony.

Indeed.



--








So, you dont like reasoned,
well thought out, civil debate?

I understand.

/´¯/)
/¯../
/..../
/´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
/'/.../..../......./¨¯\
('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
\.................'...../
''...\.......... _.·´
\..............(
\.............\..

The message
from "Jayne" contains these words:

I found 3 little blue eggs on the lawn today - all had been neatly pecked
open & the contents were gone.

Probably starlings' eggs. They do 'dummy runs' before laying in the nest
for some reason.

--
Tony
Replace solidi with dots to reply: tony/anson snailything zetnet/co/uk

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi

The message
from (Andy Spragg) contains these words:

^ who given half a
^ chance will attack and kill the ducklings when they they are still
^ very small.
^
^ That is a blatant lie.

Whoo-hoo, you caught me out there. I just took the time to write it
all for the sheer malicious fun of it, but you got me bang to rights,
Guv. I'll need to get up earlier in the morning to catch /you/ out.

And they don't take pheasant and partridge chicks either. That's why
gamekeepers breed so many magpies for release on their shoots.

--
Tony
Replace solidi with dots to reply: tony/anson snailything zetnet/co/uk

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi

Malcolm pushed briefly to the front of the
queue on Sat, 17 May 2003 06:14:31 GMT, and nailed this to the shed
door:

^ On Fri, 16 May 2003 22:57:34 GMT, (Andy Spragg)
^ wrote:

(snip)

^ My office is on the first floor. It looks inwards, adjacent to a tree
^ that the magpies sit in. Occasionally I get alerted to look out when
^ the mother duck quacks blue murder when an ambush occurs and she spots
^ it. On such occasions, yes, I have seen a magpie taking a chick.
^
^ Liar.
^
^ This is not a "blatant lie". It is my personal experience. You may not
^ like it, but tough. And it may not generalize to ducklings in the
^ wild, but I never claimed that it did. I claimed that it led me to
^ judge as credible the possibility that a magpie might attack a robin's
^ nest.
^
^ No, you claim the magpie is to blame for all the worlds ills, based on
^ your ignorance of magpies.

And this, folks, is a good example of why you should Just Say No to
care in the community. But moral scruples notwithstanding, it's far
too good to return uncelebrated to the eflotsam and ejetsam. Cheers,
Malc; I'd been looking for a new sig for a while now.

--

"No, you claim the magpie is to blame for all the
worlds ills, based on your ignorance of magpies."
(4a7391c12e538ef306d33d71c9482221@TeraNews)

Living in North London, I can attest to a magpie "taking" quite a large (out
of nest but still figuring out how to fly) starling chick. But this is
nature in action and as upset as some people might get, nothing should be
done about this.

Paul DS.

"Paul D.Smith" wrote in message .net...
Living in North London, I can attest to a magpie "taking" quite a large (out
of nest but still figuring out how to fly) starling chick. But this is
nature in action and as upset as some people might get, nothing should be
done about this.

Paul DS.

It's quite a mystery why, despite so much anecdotal evidence to the
contrary, the 'experts' in RSPB and other bodies maintain that the
huge explosion in magpie numbers over recent years has absolutely
nothing to do with the decline in the songbird population.

Undoubtedly there are a few contributory causes, but 'too many
magpies' would be way up on my list. Two or three months ago, I saw
from my window 24 magpies having a meeting - and this was before the
start of the breeding season! A few years ago, if you saw a party of
four, it was remarkable, as the famous little ditty proves.

Actually I love watching magpies. They are most handsome and
intelligent. They appear to be good parents. Their nest-building is
something to behold - I have one just outside my (second floor) living
room window. But they are also very aggressive and predatory birds.
They will think nothing of chasing off other predators (corvids and
raptors) with whom they compete. They compensate for their somewhat
clumsy flight in sheer aggression and persistence.

Previously, gamekeepers helped keep magpie numbers down, but
gamekeepers have themselves become something of an endangered species,
and now there are very few people who want to control their numbers.
In my view this is pity, because too many magpies is undoubtedly too
much of a good thing. If one could reduce the corvid population by
80%, smaller birds would not be disappearing so fast.

In article , hugo agogo
writes
"Paul D.Smith" wrote in message
x.net...
Living in North London, I can attest to a magpie "taking" quite a large (out
of nest but still figuring out how to fly) starling chick. But this is
nature in action and as upset as some people might get, nothing should be
done about this.

Paul DS.

It's quite a mystery why, despite so much anecdotal evidence to the
contrary, the 'experts' in RSPB and other bodies maintain that the
huge explosion in magpie numbers over recent years has absolutely
nothing to do with the decline in the songbird population.

You've put your finger right on the nub of the matter. The evidence to
the contrary is solely anecdotal. The evidence that the magpies have not
caused a decline in songbirds is based on sound research.

BTW, for your information, numbers of magpies in the UK have hardly
changed over the last ten years, though before that there was indeed a
large increase.

Undoubtedly there are a few contributory causes, but 'too many
magpies' would be way up on my list. Two or three months ago, I saw
from my window 24 magpies having a meeting - and this was before the
start of the breeding season! A few years ago, if you saw a party of
four, it was remarkable, as the famous little ditty proves.

Fine. Magpies gather in flocks.

Actually I love watching magpies. They are most handsome and
intelligent. They appear to be good parents. Their nest-building is
something to behold - I have one just outside my (second floor) living
room window. But they are also very aggressive and predatory birds.
They will think nothing of chasing off other predators (corvids and
raptors) with whom they compete. They compensate for their somewhat
clumsy flight in sheer aggression and persistence.

Hear, hear!

Previously, gamekeepers helped keep magpie numbers down, but
gamekeepers have themselves become something of an endangered species,
and now there are very few people who want to control their numbers.
In my view this is pity, because too many magpies is undoubtedly too
much of a good thing. If one could reduce the corvid population by
80%, smaller birds would not be disappearing so fast.

There is no sound evidence to support this, merely anecdotes which do
not add up to forming a cause and effect.

--
Malcolm