JohnAndNetta

Thanks to everyone that came to the New Farm meet yesterday. And what an amazing thing you missed if you didn’t come. I’m glad there were plenty of witnesses as the whole ‘eagle has landed’ episode was pretty unreal (see pictures attached).

The story unfolds……we notice about 20-30 crows circling a rather large ‘eagle looking’ creature. Our eyes are lifted upwards and we are distracted. Then Michelle screams out “Jesus Christ – what the hell is that in the tree?”. Another huge ‘eagle looking’ creature is dangling in the tree above us caught by its wing, whilst its mate continues to circle, hounded by the hysterical crows.

A decision is made to call the fire brigade.

About 10 minutes later I go to the toilet and return to find that John (my husband) is hugging a rather evil looking blanket, with a lethal looking beak attached to it. Matt is covering up the creatures eyes and whispering sweet nothings in its ear, to try and pacify it and stop it from eating John.

Apparently the beast has fallen out of the tree and landed with an almighty thud on the table beneath, virtually knocking itself senseless. Thank God I wasn’t there to witness that. I’m sure I would have freaked out.

The situation becomes more desperate and we re-phone the fire brigade to tell them we are now holding the aforementioned bird of prey and it is beginning to wriggle and react rather nastily (not surprising really). Matt is now being assisted by Nurse Jo who is offering comforting words to John, and maintaining delicate eye coverage to the beast of New Farm. If it makes eye contact with the human that has decided to strangle it in a tartan picnic blanket, it is sure to shred him to pieces.

Another 10 minutes elapse, and the fire brigade phone back to say that due to health and safety issues they are not allowed to handle birds of prey and that the RSPCA are on the way (bloody scaredy cats). John looks terribly disheartened and worried, but we all reassure him of how well he is doing and how brave he is, and his courage and strength are renewed.

Frantic further attempts are made to call the RSPCA by John (another John) and myself. I mention that we are now in a life or death situation (for John – not the bird). We are told that the blue light is on and the A-team are on the way.

Another 40 minutes pass and we see a van cruising around the perimeter of the park, at 2 miles an hour. I’m sure they were selling ice-creams on the way round to us. I rush over to the van and hurriedly introduce myself to two pleasant, happy-go-lucky smiling women, who have been taking bets that we have a gentle meek and mild-mannered osprey within our midst.

When I tell them that I have a mild suspicion we have found a cattle eating Wedgie, they smile and gently remind me that they have never witnessed a wedge tailed eagle near Brisbane CBD, and I must be mistaken for sure. I tell them that its mate is also circling and can smell the beads of John’s sweat on his brow, and that I am worried it will swoop and drag him away when it realises that the now, hole punctured blanket, is carrying its rather angry, hysterical and very much recovered, girlfriend.

We walk towards John, and John stumbles towards us – exhaustion is getting the better of him. His arms have gone completely numb. Gentle giggles and laughs from the RSPCA women, suddenly turn to a deafening silence. The bird handlers eyes widen and her face looks pained – as though someone has just poured acid all over her. I hear a gentle ‘shit’, under her heavy breathing, and a few other words I cannot repeat on this forum. Her friend backs off in disbelief. “Oh my God – it’s a Wedgie” she confirms. “Where the hell are its talons?”

“I’m holding them I think” replies John.

“For God’s sake don’t let go – it will rip your hand to shreds” . It was at this time that I think we all became even more acutely aware of the gravity of the situation. Kids were told to back off (I’m sure I saw someone leashing their dog), and the blonde haired RSPCA women made it crystal clear that her darker haired colleague was the bird handler. She wanted nothing to do with the massacre that was about to be inflicted on my husband and her quivering bird handler colleague.

Tactics were discussed. A swift and bold pass the parcel manoeuvre was about to be carried out with the utmost precision. Greg was at hand to mop up the blood.

The countdown began. The talons and wings were grasped and the faultless swap occurred. The bird handler held the amazing Wedge-tailed eagle up so that it looked beautifully tall and proud. The blanket dropped to the ground. It was huge. Loads of gasps and ooohhhs and aahhhhs, and it was all over. The bird was carefully placed in the cage to commence its journey to Currumbin Wildlife sanctuary. Apparently it will return……Sue2 is going to keep an eye on it for us. She’s from this neck of the woods.

What an amazing event – we returned to our picnic and bbq – and several people were heard muttering the same, all important and very obvious question - where the hell was Rolf Harris?………………..

Sincere thanks to all those that came to the meet. We had a great time meeting oldies and newbies and I hope you all had a great day. Thanks to those that came back to our house and thanks Quill, for helping us to win at trivial pursuit. And thanks to all those that helped with the eagle drama. It’s something we won’t forget in a hurry.

Netta X

Juliecabs

Wow, what a great story.
Glad you all enjoyed yourselves.
Can't wait to get out there and meet everyone
Julie. x

Hutch

Wow - excellent story - love the photos - that bird looks seriously lethal. The missus wanted to know what will happen to its mate now that he's been shipped to the country? Did the RSPCA say?

nightnurse2

Did you say the 2 RSPCA were women? The one with the bird looks like a bloke to me!
Great story but I'd had sh*t myself!

Tracey

JohnAndNetta

The bird handler thought it likely that the mate would stay in the area, so they will bring the bird back to New Farm once its recovered from the episode. They weren't entirely sure how much damage had been done, and as you can imagine, they weren't in the best position to do much handling at the time. So it might be released quite soon. On the other hand she said that if there was a broken wing, it could take up to 6 months to recover, in which case it would stay at Currumbin until fully recovered. I have a friend that lives in Currumbin and she is going to make some follow up enquiries.

I have only seen a Wedgie twice before. The closest I came before was by simply watching one circling above the Spit at the Gold Coast (near Sea world). They truly are quite remarkable looking creatures.

JohnAndNetta

Yes - she did look a bit tough(!), but I can assure you that I was quite glad. If two feeble looking ladies had turned up I think we would have panicked. Joking aside, she really knew what she was doing and how to handle this bird, so full marks to her. She did a wonderful job.

PJA

Had a PM from ex-Glos about the eagle, thought it was really funny until I've just read your thread and how dangerous it could have been!! OMG am I ready for Oz life??? :scared:

Jane

MrsDagboy

Hey Netta, Im sure John will be happy to be confused for an RSPCA woman -after all he didnt have his apron & naked butt showing .

JohnAndNetta

I think they were referring to the last photo! Whilst John might have a secret passion for dressing up in blue RSPCA uniforms, he wasn't coming out on this particular day. Though I'm sure he would have been happy to reveal his buttocks for a small fee.

Hope you had a great holiday btw and see you soon!

tiredwithtwins

blimey......what a day!!!!!
nothing exciting like that happens at any of the uk meets!!

sounds like a memorable day for all concerned......that sure is one dodgy looking beak poking outa the blanket!!

moneypenny20

And much improved if I may say

MrsDagboy

Small fee hahaha .

Great holiday, got back last night, only downside is that I have caught a nasty cold. Got your card, see you Saturday .

JohnAndNetta

I think this must have been a one in a billion chance - its not often you see a bloody great eagle fall out of a tree in front of you. In retrospect I guess John's actions were probably quite impulsive (and maybe a little silly) but there were a lot of children around and I was in the toilet so he didn't have his wife screaming "drop that bl***dy bird you daft idiot and RUN!!!!, and also its mate was close at hand. But once he had hold of it it was very difficult to do anything other than wait patiently for someone that knew what they were doing. I don't think he will react quite so hastily when the next bird of prey descends upon him. He had grossly underestimated the strength of the bird and the danger with regard to its talons.

So don't worry about Oz. We get confronted by all sorts of strange and unfamiliar things on a daily basis, but its all a big and exciting learning curve and we've had some amazing laughs and interesting encounters - but nothing has tried to kill us - yet.

mand8002

Glad you had a good time at the meet, unfortunatley I could not make it but hopefully you will have another one soon. The eagle looks awesome and not something you would expect to see so near the CBD.

Sue2

Great story hun, gutted we missed it all John was very brave to pick that up I'll pop down to Currumbin WLS on Wednesday and see if it did go there, also how its doing....I'll let you know

Looks like we'll see you guys following weekend....your more than welcome to stay.....breakfast on the veranda???

Sue x