a Magpie called ‘Terminator’
I live on 40 acres and lease another 75 acres next door. It makes for a reasonable plot of land to inhabit. About half this land is forested.
There are many others living with me.
Here reside my domestic animals, my horses and my cattle. But these are just a tiny portion of the population. Countless kangaroos and wallabies move onto and across this land. There is at least one echidna, although I once found three, all together in one of the sheds. Numerous foxes cross this space, usually at the same time each day or evening. Sometimes they stop along their daily trek, sniff the air, look towards the house and then continue. There are countless birds: parrots nesting in hollows of trees and fence posts, grebes, ducks and terns on the dams, nectar-eaters and tiny birds in the native bushes, raptors overhead - eagles and hawks, and so many more.
And then there are the magpies.
Magpies live in gangs of up to about 20 birds. These groupings are called a range of things but my favourite is a ‘mischief’ or a ‘tribe’. They inhabit very distinct territories all of their lives and they remain close to these spaces, guarding them fiercely.
On the land here there are about four groupings of magpies (‘maggies’) that I interact with, walk by, see, and sometimes talk to each day. One gang lives in the trees just at the rear of my house on the hill. They will often come right to the windows and check me out through the glass whilst they dig around for worms or other insects. In the breeding season, as at other times, this tribe never bothers with me as I wander around the place.
In the trees above my horse tack shed there lives another gang. They seem to govern the land around the shed and the horse yards. I have frequently seen them attacking the chooks to keep them away from their turf.
The boss-bird is a maggie that I dubbed ‘Termie’ aka ‘Terminator’ (pictured). He and his partner (apparently they mate for life), rather inconveniently, have a nest right above the shed.
In the breeding season he would fly down to a very very low branch and sit and watch me as I fed the horses. He seemed to be fairly content and never bothered me so long as I stayed within a certain area. I would take off my sunglasses and speak to him every day and sometimes throw out some seed in order to establish a relationship.
One day I overstepped the bounds of the trust relationship. I was actually trying to locate his nest so that I could see if there were hatchlings in it. I had walked around the other side of the shed and was gazing to the tree. I didnt realise it at the time but the nest was only about 30 metres away and I was in the danger zone. At this distance no amount of facial recognition and sweet talk would calm Termie. He was on a mission to move me on.
The sound of the flapping of wings growing in volume was the first indication of trouble heading my way. I looked up and saw him in full swoop coming straight at me, beak heading for my head. I believe that I may have said something like “oh…come on…..” or words to that effect. I ducked and ran for cover as he stopped mid-swoop just above my head. He round out to gather height again ready for the next swoop. I didnt need to be told twice.
One of the other main groups include ‘T2‘ (‘Terminator 2’) and his tribe and they live in the trees about 200 metres away on a neighbouring property.
Every morning during breeding season I would see him flying towards me as I walked down the hill. He up high and dropping low to the ground, heading my way with great speed. As he neared I would take off my sunglasses and look straight at him and yell out a greeting. He would stop mid-swoop, flutter a bit and then turn around and head off. He would do this at least twice and then return to his trees, apparently satisfied that I was a friend.
It pays to make friends with the wildlife.