Quote from on-line news:

"Victorians might be a long way off group hugs, but there is finally light at the end of the long lockdown tunnel.

They can now sit outside for two hours – right in time for swooping season."

Yes, very timely.... my wife was attacked just a couple of days ago.

Saw on the news last night the young lad being attacked in Wollongong as he rode his bike.
As for us in Victoria, it will be good when we can finally get out and about.
Can't even raise the energy to rant about it any more. If only they'd done the same as the other states.

Stay safe
Cheers
Graham

The mind boggles What is swooping here? Drop bears? Mutant seagulls? Flying Huntsman spiders?

Bloody big magpies, that's wot. They can draw blood!

Just drove past a kid riding a bike in our street with knitting needles sticking out the top of his helmet. Smart kid.

OUCH ! 

Quote from: Bealman on October 01, 2020, 06:28:38 AM
Bloody big magpies, that's wot. They can draw blood!

Pro-tip: stop walking around with tin foil hats on your heads while wearing white gowns.

This just confirms that Australia is the most dangerous country in the world!

Sure we have Bears, Cougars, Orcas, terrifying cold, blistering heat, rattlesnakes, Coyotes, Earthquakes (and thats just in BC) but at least the regular small wildlife leaves us alone

Jeez.. Magpies.. seriously.. and I bet they're some kind of Australian Honey-Badger Magpie

Nice birds, lovely song, quite friendly except sometimes during nesting but excessive protectiveness only displayed by some males and surprisingly sometimes against selected persons.  They seem to have a stealth mode where the attack just suddenly happens, like they had teleportation abilities.  The tinfoil hat may be a possible addition to suggested means of defense, usually helmets with eyes painted on the back or umbrellas.
They don't seem to like bicyclists so have a bit in common with some car and truck drivers.
Had a nesting pair where I worked who would only consistently swoop a handful of staff out of 300+.  However the mailman who traveled along the footpath on the opposite side of the street, about 120 metres away from their nest, was enthusiastically attacked every day.  The magpie would launch from the tree, fly like a missile and attack the mailman for about 60 metres.

It is important to note that the Australian Magpie is not related to the magpies of the rest of the world. They are all of the Covidae family, whereas our Aussie bird is an Artamidae, and a close relative of the Australian Butcherbird. Our magpie is well known for being able to recognise specific people as either friend or foe, and once they take a dislike to you, they will be your enemy for life. Serious scientific work has found that the best way for a cyclist to deter their attacks is to wear an Afro wig!

a lot of people round here put cable ties on their bike helmets to deter them. SWMBO on the other hand feeds ours with biscuits every morning and the local ones have never attacked us.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/vic/2020/10/15/magpie-attack-man-hospital-victoria/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PM%20Extra%20-%2020201015

this made the 6pm news in Melbourne, he was very lucky not to lose both eyes.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-16/second-magpie-attack-sale-eastern-victoria/12774214

And I thought seagulls nicking my fish and chips at Whitby or St.Ives was a real issue.

Our true Magpies just wake me up in the morning with their raucous cackle, and make me wary if I only see one, due to the ancient rhyme about Magpies that begins "One for sorrow....". Not that I believe in such superstitious nonsense, though in Oz it looks like it has a big ring of truth.

So do they ever attack in pairs or groups?  (a la Hitchcock).