On Friday, Wildcare caught wind the school was going to exterminate two magpies who were swooping children in the school's playground.

Members of Wildcare were extremely distressed by the news, and engaged the help of Boom Sherrin crane hire, who brought a cherry picker to the scene free of charge, to remove the babies the swooping birds were protecting and to destroy the nest.

Wildcare bird coordinator Laurel Rosin, said the two-week-old babies would now be hand raised and released when they were old enough to fend for themselves.

Ms Rosin said Wildcare took countless calls from the community at this time of year to take action on swooping magpies.

``We do relocate magpies but we've got to be told,'' she said.

``I just feel that we should have been contacted before an exterminator was asked to come in and do away with these little fellas.''

Wildcare's Coralie Tarlinton said now the babies were removed, the older magpies should stop swooping and would hopefully relocate to a new area.

``The biggest problem with this issue, is the fact that we've just urbanised nature so much, we've removed their homes, their habitat, and then we get (annoyed) when they try and move back in,'' she said.

For the full story, please see Friday's Queanbeyan Age, available from our front office on Monaro Street, or at newsagencies and supermarkets across the Queanbeyan region.