βIt is spring which means every time a raven flies overhead, despite having been here for two years I find myself ducking the "magpie swoop". People cite spiders and snakes as Australian's mortal enemies but they really don't understand the prolonged systematic torture of the magpie.β β Facebook quote, Aussie friend living in Seattle. Gladstone, QLD, Australia - September 2013. Spring. A magpie nest was surely close by. The black and white sentry, nestled high in a streetlamp, had recently started surveilling our movements with its red, beady eyes. The magpie family had stealthily set up their residence in our little pocket of Gladstone, Australia and it was quickly becoming clear that what had once been our territory was under question and certainly open for debate. I had never been swooped by a magpie; plovers yes
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