Brickbat: For the Birds

Brad Martell has been feeding birds in the backyard of his Melbourne, Australia, home for 20 years. Then a new neighbor moved in. The neighbor complained to local officials, who fined Martell $200 for feeding wildlife. Martell reduced the amount he feeds the birds and moved the feedings to his front yard. But a few weeks later, he got a summons for nine more charges. It seems that local officials had been covertly spying on him and caught him continuing to feed the birds.