Give me a hug...

[Kaz747]

I couldn’t resist sharing this photo which was taken by my friend, photographer Paul Pichugin. The image has been purchased by Tourism Australia. Not all kangaroos are as friendly as this one 😀

We’ve often spoken about how nature can be calming however on my walk earlier today I was swooped 5 or 6 times by magpies. The initial fright really set my heart going and the birds drew blood as they pecked my hands when I was covering my head. I know they were just protecting their babies. I still love nature ❤️😉

[Cat04]

Thanks for that Kaz, it made me smile x

[Cat04 in reply to Cat04]

The roo that is, not the magpies getting you.

[Kaz747 in reply to Cat04]

I knew what you meant 😉

[jedimasterlincoln]

There's a superstition around Magpies as I recall...

1 for sorrow, 2 for joy, 3 for a girl, 4 for a boy..... don't know what 5 and 6 mean.... something about losing eyes maybe?

[Kaz747 in reply to jedimasterlincoln]

😂😎 Probably- good job I had my sunnies on.

[jedimasterlincoln in reply to Kaz747]

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret,

Never to be told.

Eight for a wish,

Nine for a kiss,

Ten for a bird,

You must not miss.

When other half was pregnant, we regularly used to see a couple of magpies that lived near the roundabout at her mums house, so we often used them to try to predict what gender baby bump would be. We could never remember what we had to say if we saw more than four, so I invented twins/triplets/falling pregnant again within months of baby being born.

She wasn't impressed

[Kaz747 in reply to jedimasterlincoln]

That’s great- a bit of silver and gold wouldn’t go astray 😀

[Hidden]

Lovely ! Close shave with the magpies though ! This reminds me of a video my daughter sent me in the summer of a group of magpies stealing coloured clothes pegs from her bag in the garden !

[BobD Volunteer]

I remember being told as a kid that if you saw a single magpie you should say (Good morning Mrs Magpie how are the chldren." To this day I have no idea why! Lol 😁.

[Kaz747 in reply to BobD]

It’s funny the things that stick with us from our childhood 😄

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Kaz747]

Don't look in a mirror during a thunderstorm or you will see the devil standing behind you. WTF is that about?

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to BobD]

If we saw one on it's own we used to say, "Good morning Mr Magpie, give my kind regards to your wife and family". If you did't say that, it was thought that you would have bad luck = 1 for sorrow.

Jean

[jeanjeannie50]

I thought I'd be a little different and placed lots of pearl beads on the top of a largish plant pot outside. Yep, it looked really nice, but the magpies thought I'd put them out for them to play with and all summer I've found them scattered over the back garden!

Here in Devon it's the seagulls that can be scary. I can remember doing an early morning run when they had their young and they would swoop down to scare you away. It eventually became too frightening to do! Also they're well known for swooping down and, in a second, swiping any food you're eating out of your hand!

Jean

[Finvola in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Yes, black backed gulls here used to be dangerous to visitors to Rathlin Island many years ago. We were warned to stay away from the northern cliffs of the island as the gulls attacked and could cause a fall over the cliff.

[Kaz747 in reply to Finvola]

That sounds deadly

[hock217 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

The monkeys in Costa Rica stole my breakfast while I took a step to get sugar packets. When I first arrive a monkey in the tree above me threw a coconut on my head.....THAT HURT!

[Finvola]

Love the pic! Is he being happy or begging for a titbit?

I hadn't realised magpies could be so aggressive - here in the hill of N Ireland they are shy and will only chatter loudly during the breeding season if enemies come near the nest. Hooded crows are something else - aggressive doesn't begin to describe them! We always have a breeding pair in our high trees and they attack every other large bird they see, defending their young.

Unfortunately, they see a large hooded crow behind every window and glass door in our house, being equally aggressive! The racket of squawking and thumping on glass which they make fighting with themselves is horrendous (dawn is around 3.30 am). Every spring we have to spike the window sills and fix netting outside some of the windows just to get some sleep. They are very intelligent birds normally, but they haven't worked out the science behind reflections yet.

[Kaz747 in reply to Finvola]

The photo was taken at a holiday village south of Perth which used to be a saw mill community and there are lots of very friendly kangaroos. We stayed there when our kids were little and used to feed the kangaroos at the back door so this one was probably after a treat.

[wilsond]

Wonderful shot!

[seasider18]

When we ere on Fair Isle we were told to avoid an area where Artic Skuas were nesting. We did but advance parties came at us. On the small plane back to Shetland the pilot warned us that he usually needs to take avoiding actions for ones that want to attack the plane. He did have to several times.

[hock217]

Love this. He's a babe yes?

[Kaz747 in reply to hock217]

Yes, still pretty young

[hock217]

Took a pic of this pic will post with caption "I Need A Hug"