Just when the boss thought it was safe to take a holiday ...
Strap in, folks; there's been a big break in the case. BirdWatch 5: Out for Justice is this season's must-see action epic.
Picture the scene. A charming family outing - Jamie Lee Mackey and her family had travelled up from the Central Coast to take in the splendour of Newcastle Beach and celebrate her aunt's birthday.
It was the perfect day for it, too; a little chilly, perhaps, under a cool winter's breeze, but the sun was out, and the mercury got to 14 degrees around lunchtime.
Ms Mackey told Topics that she, her young family, and her aunt had gone to the beach for an afternoon picnic when the birds flocked in.
"We thought, oh, great, there's a table there on the corner, but as soon as we had the food and started walking, they started to follow us," Ms Mackey said. "Then more, and more, came."
A flock of about 50 Steven Seagulls (action epic, remember) converged on the family in a brazen daylight robbery. Our photographer on the case, ever watchful for the latest bird news (we're waiting to hear back from the Walkley people about opening a new prize category), was on the scene to capture the chaos.
"They ended up taking all of our chips," Ms Mackey said, "I didn't get a chip. They took a croissant out of my son's hand."
The birds were so bold that Ms Mackey could pluck one out of the air as it descended on her handbag, as dozens more swarmed the picnic.
"I thought I might give one a little cuddle," she said, "It was so close, and I put my hand out and grabbed it. It didn't really mind. They went for mine as well, but I was holding on pretty tightly, so I was able to keep it.
"My boys thought it was hilarious."
The feathered fracas followed our last BirdWatch 2024 development when this honed bird reporting team brought you exclusive news (so exclusive, it's almost as if no one else in town is covering it) that the local gulls appear to be getting bolder and more ravenous in the cooler months.
The crack theory from the avian news desk has it that, with the cold season setting in and a spate of recent bad weather keeping the beachgoers away, the Beaky Blinders' regular food source has been running thin.
A study of European gulls (birds that look surprisingly like our Australian gulls but can be distinguished by their strong British accents - caw-blimey) found that the ubiquitous urban sky rat of coastal towns show a remarkable sense of food discretion and will watch what nearby humans are eating to decide which scraps to pick at. Researchers who published their results last year say that birds - including gulls - learn by watching to improve their success at foraging.
Still, despite the wild scenes of the filching flockers captured on Friday afternoon, Ms Mackey was unconcerned by experience.
"It's just typical seagulls," she said, "They've always been like that ... they have left us alone now, funnily enough, because we've got no more food."
According to our international colleagues on the BBC Science desk (that's right, guys, we basically have the same job. How does that make you feel?), while it may seem that urban gulls are getting more brazen and aggressive, the grown-ups say this is largely a product of sensationalised coverage from the tabloid press.
Well, thank goodness we don't have anything like that here.
Until the next development, stay tuned ...
