Swooping magpies

Maybe there is some kind of conspiracy going on between the magpies and
aus.car..they all hate cyclists lol



"Jeff" wrote in message
om...

I took a spin to catch up with my weekly kms. On the route that I
normally take for this purpose, I have been being swooped on two
locations regularly. Yesterday, I took an extended version of the
route
and the third bird got me, too.

After encountering these birds I can see that their swooping
behaviour
varies. One of them only comes close so I can hear him/her
approaching,
but never makes any contact. The second bird (different spot) always
makes only one contact. It feels as if he/she kind of grabs on my
jersy
for a short time. No contacts with helmet. Since I do about 50-60
kmh on
that part of the route, I guess one swoop is enough, and by then I
have
already left the territory!

The bloody third one yesterday got me when I was doing like 30 kmh.
This
one kept bashing on my helmet. At least 6-7 times! It wouldn't let
me
go. Kept coming back for a good 300 meters. I got so angry I thought
I
would grab the bloody neck of the bird and snap the dumb head off,
but I
could only wish!



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Last Saturday I was the victim of a swooping. We parked under the
maggies tree, so can't complain when we got swooped. So I thought that
by leaving its area it would leave me alone. I was wrong when I jumped
on my bike and took off I was hit about 5 times on the helmet. On
approach for the sixth time I took my eyes of the road to see it
approach, hit a rock and came off spectacularly. My mates thought it
was hilarious! Whilst on the grounded winded the bloody bird kept
swooping me (not making contact though). I was now a good 100 meters
from its tree!

Don't know why but there were a group of people under the tree when we
arrived and they were not getting attacked and as we drove off it sat
in the tree and still didn't swoop them.

Laurence Dodd wrote:

I rode through a new housing estate at Edens Landing about four years ago in
September (or nesting season anyway) and there were several swooping magpies
that got me cornered on an uphill. I got off my bike and they were
confronting me. I recall at least one was landing on the ground and kept
trying to fly up behind me, so I had to spin around and keep it in front of
me. After a minute or so I just had to ride away waving my one arm in the
air.


You only have one arm?

&roo

Laurence Dodd wrote:

I rode through a new housing estate at Edens Landing about four years ago in
September (or nesting season anyway) and there were several swooping magpies
that got me cornered on an uphill. I got off my bike and they were
confronting me. I recall at least one was landing on the ground and kept
trying to fly up behind me, so I had to spin around and keep it in front of
me. After a minute or so I just had to ride away waving my one arm in the
air.


You only have one arm?

&roo

No, I have two arms. The last sentence in my previous post should not have
included the word "my".

LD.

"Andrew Swan" wrote in message
...
Laurence Dodd wrote:

I rode through a new housing estate at Edens Landing about four years
ago in
September (or nesting season anyway) and there were several swooping
magpies
that got me cornered on an uphill. I got off my bike and they were
confronting me. I recall at least one was landing on the ground and
kept
trying to fly up behind me, so I had to spin around and keep it in front
of
me. After a minute or so I just had to ride away waving my one arm in
the
air.


You only have one arm?

&roo

No, I have two arms. The last sentence in my previous post should not have
included the word "my".

LD.

"Andrew Swan" wrote in message
...
Laurence Dodd wrote:

I rode through a new housing estate at Edens Landing about four years
ago in
September (or nesting season anyway) and there were several swooping
magpies
that got me cornered on an uphill. I got off my bike and they were
confronting me. I recall at least one was landing on the ground and
kept
trying to fly up behind me, so I had to spin around and keep it in front
of
me. After a minute or so I just had to ride away waving my one arm in
the
air.


You only have one arm?

&roo

Originally posted by Dj Maybe there is some kind of conspiracy going on
between the magpies and aus.car..they all hate cyclists lol

Yes, there is another conspiracy.

Dr Hugh Wirth, the ever tactful leader of the RSPCA, got stuck into a
ABC radio talkback caller on the 6/9, who had the sheer nerve to mention
he was a cyclist & had probs with magpies.

Dr Hugh responded that he disliked cyclists & sided with the birds.
Sounds very shifty to me. Draw you own conclusions.

BTW, anyone ever encountered problems with plovers? nasty little sods
too.



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it's all a creeping beige conspiracy

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Originally posted by Dj Maybe there is some kind of conspiracy going on
between the magpies and aus.car..they all hate cyclists lol

Yes, there is another conspiracy.

Dr Hugh Wirth, the ever tactful leader of the RSPCA, got stuck into a
ABC radio talkback caller on the 6/9, who had the sheer nerve to mention
he was a cyclist & had probs with magpies.

Dr Hugh responded that he disliked cyclists & sided with the birds.
Sounds very shifty to me. Draw you own conclusions.

BTW, anyone ever encountered problems with plovers? nasty little sods
too.



--
it's all a creeping beige conspiracy

--------------------------
Posted via cyclingforums.com
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"cfsmtb" wrote:

BTW, anyone ever encountered problems with plovers? nasty
little sods too.

Absolutely - great little divebombers. I knew them as "spurwing
plovers" when I was a kid in Brisbane. They seem to be known as
"lapwings" these days.

They have sharp spurs on the leading edges of the wings. But at
least they're vocal, and let you know they're upset - unlike
magpies, which are into stealth attacks.

All these birds are protected, and noone would ever think of
harming them! So when you get off your bike and stand with a
stick in one hand and the sun behind you (watching your shadow),
you must be careful not to raise the stick quickly at the wrong
time. Otherwise you might accidentally connect with one of the
precious little darlings.

John

"cfsmtb" wrote:

BTW, anyone ever encountered problems with plovers? nasty
little sods too.

Absolutely - great little divebombers. I knew them as "spurwing
plovers" when I was a kid in Brisbane. They seem to be known as
"lapwings" these days.

They have sharp spurs on the leading edges of the wings. But at
least they're vocal, and let you know they're upset - unlike
magpies, which are into stealth attacks.

All these birds are protected, and noone would ever think of
harming them! So when you get off your bike and stand with a
stick in one hand and the sun behind you (watching your shadow),
you must be careful not to raise the stick quickly at the wrong
time. Otherwise you might accidentally connect with one of the
precious little darlings.

John

Yes, there is another conspiracy.

Dr Hugh Wirth, the ever tactful leader of the RSPCA, got stuck into a
ABC radio talkback caller on the 6/9, who had the sheer nerve to
mention he was a cyclist & had probs with magpies.

Dr Hugh responded that he disliked cyclists & sided with the birds.
Sounds very shifty to me. Draw you own conclusions.

BTW, anyone ever encountered problems with plovers? nasty little
sods too.

I've never heard of cyclists being attacked by plovers and I've
regularly riden through plover territory without problems but yes
these birds are worse than magpies. Even though I've been attacked by
magpies I still have more respect for them because plovers are just so
damn stupid.

However, I wonder how long it will be before someone turns around
and sues National Parks and Wildlife and the RSPCA after losing an
eye to a magpie.



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