Bloody magpies

had three shots on a pair in my garden over the last few days before I realised the scope had given up the ghost!!

4th time I wont miss!

cant stand them, had to stand by idly watching them hounding a thrush fledgling until they finally caught and ate it
 
B***ards killed all the Blackbird and Thrush Chicks that were in nests in my Garden. The Parent Birds always put up a brave fight but only so much they can do. I would love to thin the gits out a bit but my Garden is not well suited to pest control.

Yorkie.
 
Should a human do such a thing as interfere with an osprey nest there'd be hell to pay. Shouldn't wonder if someone was actually watching this happen. What would be the issue with a little bit of selective magpie control there? I expect it would be the end of the world as they know it.
 
That's a real shame, magpies cleaned out my garden collared dove, blackbirds, thrush and greenfinch. Three years on the trot.

with the help of a ladder trap and a very accurate air rifle, no further problem, in fact haven't Seen one in three weeks

should have national magpie reductions days to protect our small birds, they've got out of hand, they are exceptional birds but out of all the corvids definitely the worst ones, probably take more chicks than a domestic cat
 
Trouble we have is cats.. .. was woken up last night with a blackbird going crazy. Upon looking out the window a damn cat was trying it's best to get into a nest my Son and I have been watching in our holly tree.
A mitre delta thrown at the bastward out the top window had it running but undoubtedly it will be back.
 
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And interfering townies still think it's a good idea to release callbirds from Larsen traps.
 
Major problem here now, front garden the haunt of 4 cats, a couple of caring neighbours feeding coarse food of some description so now an ever changing wary flock of up to 30 Rooks, Magpies, Crows and Jackdaws. Sometimes up to 50 in winter.
 
If you can't shoot them, a green dot laser light moves them off very smartly indeed. About 25 quid from China..Amazon. Arrived in a few days. If practical, I shoot maggies on sight! When I can't, the laser works a treat.
 
I keep finding headless dead songbirds in the gardens at work, I'm sure magpies are the culprits.
I'm pretty sure the boss won't let me put in a Larsen though!
 
If it's electronic I would remove your comment , not being funny but it's open forum & using electronic decoy on birds is illegal , meant to be for photography purposes only .
If it's not electronic I apologise
Not trying to be a smart ar5e just believe you have to cover your behind

Paul
 
I am no lover of magpies and give carrion crows no quarter. But the overwhelming reason for the decline in wild bird numbers is farming. The massive changes even in my lifetime (45 years) have had a dire effect on farm land birds, some species have been pretty much decimated. Vermin is easy to blame but fundamentally the reason lies in the farmers chemical store ( and silage clamp I would argue too).
 
I am no lover of magpies and give carrion crows no quarter. But the overwhelming reason for the decline in wild bird numbers is farming. The massive changes even in my lifetime (45 years) have had a dire effect on farm land birds, some species have been pretty much decimated. Vermin is easy to blame but fundamentally the reason lies in the farmers chemical store ( and silage clamp I would argue too).

Unfortunately this is also true.

Our own farm is improved grassland, virtual green desert, hedges cut back to the stumps, every wet spot is drained.

I'm 47, in my lifetime in rural Ireland I would guess wildlife diversity has dropped by maybe 90%. Around home we used to have coots, moorhens, rails, skylarks, snipe, curlew, corncrakes, hares in abundance and every type of small bird. Now there is bugger all outside of a few little oasis'. Our own garden and an old damp derelict wood of about two acres are full of small birds and wildlife. 200m away from either of these places and there are only a few rabbits and pigeons.
 
I have had a Larsen trap running all spring and again have a back garden full of small birds. No cats thankfully but agree huge decrease in farmland birds however up in northumberland on keepered estate abundance of wildlife, no magpies, v few crows and foxs , strange coincidence!!

D
 
I am no lover of magpies and give carrion crows no quarter. But the overwhelming reason for the decline in wild bird numbers is farming. The massive changes even in my lifetime (45 years) have had a dire effect on farm land birds, some species have been pretty much decimated. Vermin is easy to blame but fundamentally the reason lies in the farmers chemical store ( and silage clamp I would argue too).


I agree, but that doesn't explain song birds in towns
My back of my house looks into a semi enclosed area that is made up of around 50 gardens and garage roof tops all boxed in by high buildings
its a little oasis in the middle of a city

within what is probably less than an 3 acres when I first moved here were no less than 5 breeding pairs of magpies.
Assume they all had 2 offspring and thats a plague!
Counted 9 in one tree once!

there was one solitary blackbird, an occasional tit and a few swifts that nested under the eaves but that was it.

I must have shot over 100 magpies since moving here.
double figures most years

We now have:
Mistle Thrush
Song thrush
Yellowhammer
Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Collared Doves
Rock Doves
Tree sparrows
Robin
Blackbird
Great tit
Blue Tit
Chaffinch

We have had a travelling bullfinch, a siskin and a long tailed tit

Direct action on predators has a significant impact on the following year

just changed the scope on the PCP and zeroed in this moring
Feckers are in trouble this weekend

only stupid cats come into my garden.
Caught one camped under my birdtable
They get the potato treatment. Knocked one clean off the wall once.
best shot ever!
They now all run when the door opens

cant really run a larsen round here as there are too many prying eyes
 
The most magpies I counted at 5.15 one morning was 17, only seemed to be where high up?

Too many eyes here too for direct action of any sort, had the ARV here one evening as bringing the dog back from a walk.
When I walked up my drive one said it's not you then, they had responded to some local twit using air rifle at pigeons on aerials and had supposedly worked out the trajectory from the complaint.
 
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