Bushwalk Australia

How many Overland Track walkers can't relate to a little mischief from our black and white feathered friends? My latest blog post shares a badly-kept secret.

http://auntyscuttle.blogspot.com/

cheers

Peter

Those birds sure do work hard.
When I was surveying at Cradle for the sewer scheme I placed some 150mm spikes with tape wrapped around top in the ground (flush) also a roofing nail in the bitumen at the sewer ponds.
On one of my trips I couldn't find the spikes I had placed at end of old runway and assumed a tourist with nothing better to do had lifted them out of ground. I did find some short bits tape.
Then I went to sewer ponds where I couldn't find the roofing nail. I looked for it and found the actual hole in the bitumen where it had been.
Having known these beady eyed blighters from way back I concluded they were the culprits in all cases as the road was closed to visitors and too far off the beaten track.

We once watched as they opened a boiled egg tightly wrapped in foil. I couldn't have done better myself.

[quote][/quote]
When my son was about 4 he was in the Lake St Clair car park carrying the roll he had for lunch. A currawong which was on the wrong side flew to a branch behind him then launched itself , flew down, took the roll in mid-flight and continued on to another branch to eat its (actually my son's) lunch. This shows their ability to problem-solve.

whynotwalk wrote:
How many Overland Track walkers can't relate to a little mischief from our black and white feathered friends? My latest blog post shares a badly-kept secret.

http://auntyscuttle.blogspot.com/

That's a great post. Reminds me of keas attacking cars in NZ. My pack has an integrated rain cover. Hopefully that will slow their progress ... then again it's bright blue so the colour might encourage them

yup i've lost a whole hot chip cup to em on a school camp about 20 years ago - they've been practicing for a while now...

taswegian wrote:Those birds sure do work hard.
When I was surveying at Cradle for the sewer scheme I placed some 150mm spikes with tape wrapped around top in the ground (flush) also a roofing nail in the bitumen at the sewer ponds.
On one of my trips I couldn't find the spikes I had placed at end of old runway and assumed a tourist with nothing better to do had lifted them out of ground. I did find some short bits tape.
Then I went to sewer ponds where I couldn't find the roofing nail. I looked for it and found the actual hole in the bitumen where it had been.
Having known these beady eyed blighters from way back I concluded they were the culprits in all cases as the road was closed to visitors and too far off the beaten track.

We once watched as they opened a boiled egg tightly wrapped in foil. I couldn't have done better myself.

next time you will have to give them a bigger challenge and put in a star bar.

I've also lost a couple of pale purple noodle golf balls to the little blighters. It's always at the 7th par three on my local course where they swoop down and nick them from the green. I've now changed my ball colour. They don't seem to like pink as much

I've only ever lost a lamb chop to a kookaburra. Stole it from my hand whilst I was mid bite. I must admit I was impressed with it aeronautical display so I was happy for him to have it

if it's blue/purple balls, then i'd imagine your problem is Bower birds. They have an obsession for things of that colour. Their nests are COVEREd in all kinds of items in that colour.

couple months ago at the camp ground at cynthia bay, one currawong was very keen on the scroggin of one of the girls in my group... ended up taking a full half kilo bag out of the pack, we watched as it worked its way into the zippered section trying to get to another bag of scroggin... it got in too!!! it didnt get the scroggin however, as the owner happened to turn around and see what was happening... i would have taken off too had i been on the recieving end of this crazy woman running at me screaming and waving madly!!!

ILUVSWTAS wrote:if it's blue/purple balls, then i'd imagine your problem is Bower birds. They have an obsession for things of that colour. Their nests are COVEREd in all kinds of items in that colour.

Great photo!

I've had both birds do it. It's been a frustrating process as I was reluctant to change as I like the visibility of the ball (very pale bluey purple). But in the end I lost too many (including one two inches from the pin off the tee gggrrrr). Beautiful looking beasties though...albeit cheeky

They are a fantastic bird!! One of the all time characters in the birdos world!!

Yeh I used to play a bit of golf, never had any trouble with birds anywhere except down at South arm. Seems the ravens down there like golf balls!!

ILUVSWTAS wrote:Yeh I used to play a bit of golf, never had any trouble with birds anywhere except down at South arm. Seems the ravens down there like golf balls!!

elderslie also! when the resident bird there died about 10 years ago maybe, they found over a thousand balls in the hollow in the fork of one of the trees on the course!cheeky bugger must have been getting half a dozen a day!

Macca81 wrote:

ILUVSWTAS wrote:Yeh I used to play a bit of golf, never had any trouble with birds anywhere except down at South arm. Seems the ravens down there like golf balls!!

elderslie also! when the resident bird there died about 10 years ago maybe, they found over a thousand balls in the hollow in the fork of one of the trees on the course!cheeky bugger must have been getting half a dozen a day!

Seriously?? thats classic!!
Damn fine course too btw.

I suspect that a Currawong took my whistle with a yellow lanyard from my pack at Pelion Gap. It had plenty of time given that we went up Mt Ossa. It was in a zippered pocket of the waist strap of my pack. This was not covered by the pack cover and hence was a little exposed.

Across the strait at Wilsons' Promontory, the ravens are pretty good at opening the zips on packs if there's food inside.

JamesMc

flatfoot wrote:I suspect that a Currawong took my whistle with a yellow lanyard from my pack at Pelion Gap. It had plenty of time given that we went up Mt Ossa. It was in a zippered pocket of the waist strap of my pack. This was not covered by the pack cover and hence was a little exposed.

Retraction and Apology

I wholeheartedly and unreservedly apologise to all members of the Currawong species for the dispersions I cast upon their kind. Said whistle was located in my daypack and had not been stolen by a Currawong.

Not of the overland, but probably a cousin
He waited, we chatted, but he got nothing..

Chief wrote:Not of the overland, but probably a cousin
He waited, we chatted, but he got nothing..

DSCN0884.JPG

That's a fancy new sign much in the same vain as the ones at the kedumba end. We've experienced similar thieving birds when camped down at Acacia Flat adjacent to the Blue Gum Forest.

Once I left my pack 1/2 way up Barn Bluff to climb the rest. While I was up there a two other walkers came up. They had left the packs where I'd left mine. Then I went down to waterfall for the night. About an hour after arriving the two other walkers arrived and started abusing me for stealing their scroggin while they were on the summit. I figured it was the pirates but they wouldn't believe me. It's funny how you remember some things 12 years later.

flatfoot wrote:

Chief wrote:Not of the overland, but probably a cousin
He waited, we chatted, but he got nothing..

DSCN0884.JPG

That's a fancy new sign much in the same vain as the ones at the kedumba end. We've experienced similar thieving birds when camped down at Acacia Flat adjacent to the Blue Gum Forest.

i guess they are covering their butts - so no-one misses the steps and heads out towards the castle/valley areawhere that bloke got "lost"

This photo is from a good few years back at the Dove Lake carpark, where these blighters stole in full flight, a sandwich from the hands of a friend while we were having lunch.

ILUVSWTAS wrote:if it's blue/purple balls, then i'd imagine your problem is Bower birds. They have an obsession for things of that colour. Their nests are COVEREd in all kinds of items in that colour.

They do this to attract the female, Female bower birds are very picky with who they mate with. They love the colour blue, the more blue you can accumulate the better chance you have to score. But this is still not enough, you also need to be a great dancer. So if you can collect lots of blue items and are a very good dancer, well you can guess the rest.

Thanks Phil-art!!

Im guessing you lot on the mainland who walk near Bower birds limit your blue gear...

Not from the look of that photo.

For over twenty years I had to warn my primary classes at Katoomba Public School to guard their morning tea/lunch when out at Ruin Castle. Despite the warnings at least half a dozen kids lost a sandwich or snack. I recently left my pack under a tree at Acacia Flat while I showed a friend a fresh water spring I'd found. Upon returning about half an hour later a few of the local currawongs had got into my side mesh pocket and devoured my scroggin; Geoff and I just had a good laugh.