UKC

.... took the impact when a very aggressive buzzard decided it was going to attack me. Hit me on the back of the helmet at high speed imprinting four talon marks into the helmet and leaving a small gash where a talon caught into the helmet itself.

Up till then I didn't think buzzards were aggressive to humans - there are plenty around where I live and never experienced anything even remotely similar.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

I bet that was pretty exciting! I've heard of magpies going for shiny glasses never heard of buzzards doing that though.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:
Got the adrenalin flowing! It had been building up to the hit with practice diving swoops getting closer and closer - I was pedalling fast when it did get me. Wish I owned a GoPro type camera and had it pointing backwards on that cycle!

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

I bet! Its not the way a buzzard would hunt so I'd guess it thought you were a rival or a threat maybe? Anyway definitely a helmet to keep!

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Does your helmet look like a small rabbit or something from above?

In reply to DancingOnRock:


Just an ordinary grey one. I'm assuming that I was getting too near its nest/chicks without knowing.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

I got swooped upon by 2 kites when cycling from Princetown, they where very defensive and backed off when I went past.

In reply to SteveoS:
There are whole flocks of kites around Reading (counted groups of 20+ on occasion). Seen one trying to grab a slice of bread from the road, but never been at attacked by one yet... I see at least one on my short rides to and from work every day, and I still love seeing them.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

near a nest? Its rare but are stories pretty much every year about it.

Its either that or you need a chat with whichever workmate attached some bait to the back.

In reply to dissonance:
I googled afterwards and yes it seems to happen every year occasionally. I had seen two buzzards before that one on the same ride and they flew off as quick as they could after seeing me. I also saw one later in the ride but it was being harassed by a crow to be bothered with me cycling along a track! Guess it was nesting time - wrong time to be in that place which I've cycled before.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Do Magpies attack in the UK? I'd never heard of it until I came to NZ, where at certain times of the year they're a menace! It's always cyclists they go for, to protect their nests. People here try pictures of eyes stuck to helmets, or cable ties projecting upwards. Initially I thought there were a lot of weird people worried about transmission of thoughts

In reply to damowilk:

Personally I've never heard of it. Some other UKCers may have more info.

Only birds I've been attacked by prior to the buzzard are Arctic Skuas, Arctic Terns, and several species of seagulls - in the wrong place at the wrong time. I always thought with the Skuas it was also a game to them and not just a threat reaction. I suspect lots of species have the potential to attack under certain circumstances.

In reply to captain paranoia:


Also a Reading local - you can't move for red kites. I once saw 2 swooping low over a field when we were out flying power kites on a hill just north of Reading - amazing to watch them 4 feet off the ground.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Not an attack, but I've had an instance where a pheasant hit me on the head during a fast descent down to Respryn in Cornwall.

N

In reply to cousin nick:
Pheasants must be one of the most stupid of birds to change direction in front of vehicles!

In reply to Climbing Pieman:



Round here they wait in the grass verge for a car to come along that they can jump out in front of.
But re the buzzard attack - a few years ago my wife would regularly get buzzed (no pun intended) by a buzzard in the nesting season while jogging over Heversham Head. In the end she kept a big stick at one end or the other of her route across the Head and ran along with it over her shoulder. Seemed to work but a bit of a pain. And of course you don't run with a helmet, so she was probably wise.

In reply to Rog Wilko:
A stick always worked for me with the Arctic Skuas when walking/working in their area. They used to hit the stick regularly, but better than my head.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Closest raptor encounter for me was a barn owl at about a yard over my head. There is a local buzzard who checks things out but at a distance. Pheasants often explode up at me, and I dread bisecting an errant squirrel.

The road kill on the Hants B roads -- much more than on the gorgeous lanes -- would supply quite the Elizabethan banquet: deer, pheasant, badger, squirrel all very common; rabbit and hedgehog less so. No swan. Some summers the dead deer linger on the roadside and you have to avoid particular routes, particularly drawn-out hills, as the stench is too great.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

They are slowly building up in the St Albans area from their original release spot in the chilterns. Its always impressive watching them. Went riding on sunday and saw half a dozen or so kites plus 3 buzzards in close proximity. The ride got extended to just sit there watching them.
Wouldnt fancy anything of them attacking me though.