The Birds!

[Dexy5]

I was running along the prom today, minding my own business, on a slow run behind  UpTheStanley . Then there was a flapping of wings above me and a ginormous crow was scratching my head with his talons. Like something out of a Hitchcock film! UTS was quite oblivious until I screamed, and we decided the crow must have been attracted by my floppy hair as I ran. UTS doesn’t suffer from this problem. 😂 I was thinking that it might be safer running in a hat, but one of the fellow RDs at parkrun said that one tried to take his hat off recently . 🥹

We’ve been aware of crow attacks during nesting season, as it’s happened during parkrun, but we were well away from any nesting sites and trees. Perhaps he just didn’t like my choice of running gear today!

When I lived in Australia there was a problem with magpies (bigger that ours) swooping cyclists in their territory so eyes were stuck onto their helmets to deter them. I might have to try the same tactic.

🏃🏼‍♀️🦅

Has anyone else experienced this?

[Week7 Graduate10]

Hope you're OK!!! I believe UpTheStanley has the perfect protective horned hat which you may borrow?

I have never been attacked by birds but have nearly tripped over squirrels on our local paths. They just don't look before crossing!

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Week7]

😂 yes I will have to borrow UTS’s famous hat! No damage done though

[Week7 Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

🙂

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10]

A seagull nicked my donut on Brighton Pier once, scarier than it sounds! Definitely wouldn't want it on a run.

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

Seagulls are so brazen aren’t they?

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

So glad you are okay Dexy but that must have been quite scary! Also, bizarre reading this today as I ran past quite a few crows on my run today, who were perched on wooden railings along the edge of a football pitch. I was quite close to them and they all took it in turns to fly off and move a little further up as I ran by! I generally really like members of the crow family but did find myself wondering if they ever swoop or attack! So you have answered my question - and I will keep a respectful distance - and hope I don’t get swooped on.😱

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Sandraj39]

I checked with my Garmin stats and my HR did go up a little. It’s funny because I looked at him and thought of the parkrunners who’d got bombed near canoe lake, but then he had that audacity to do it to me!

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate10]

That sounds terrifying! I’ve never had this and I hope it’s a one off for you too.

Have you seen the Bluey episode “Curry Quest!?” That’s on this theme!!

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to MissUnderstanding]

Yes I don’t know why our Southsea crows are so aggressive. Must have been something I was doing for me to be the victim.

No I haven’t seen Bluey

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

Bluey is a guilty pleasure discovered while with nieces and nephews at Christmas... think I liked it more than they did and they’re most definitely more the target audience!!! The curry quest episode with aggressive magpies is quite sweet.

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

I have never seen a crow attack a human being. Weird behaviour! I do occasionally see buzzards wheeling above my head as I run; probably hoping for an easy meal. 🏃🦅

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

Yes don’t stop running Beachcomber , they might think you are the next meal.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate]

That must have been scary Dexy, glad you're ok, no I've not been attacked by a bird, only the occasional dog

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

The thought of Hitchcock’s film did go through my mind SueAppleRun .

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Dexy5]

Yes, mine too,

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate10]

This is scary...very, very ! How frightening! Glad you are okay ! x

Get a cap and stick a scarecrow on it !!!

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Oldfloss]

Ha ha . Thank goodness it was over very quickly  Oldfloss , I think I scared him away with my scream. I say him, but could have been a female. 😂

[Shake-and-run Graduate10]

sounds rather unpleasant Dexy. Glad you are not harmed too much physically and hopefully no mental scaring either!!

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Shake-and-run]

No I am fine, both mentally and physically Shakes, thank you . It is a thing that I’ve been aware of before, but I didn’t expect it in October. Must have thought my hair looked like a squirrel or something. 😂

[JonathanP Graduate10]

Quite a shock Dexy - I presume you weren't eating a bag of chips as you were running?😜

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to JonathanP]

🤣🤣 No Jonathan. What is scary though, is that crows apparently remember faces, and if it does it once it might do it again. 😱 I’m definitely going to be on hyper alert. 😂

[Mudita11 Graduate10]

Oh my goodness Dexy how scary! I’ve heard of seagulls doing this but not crows. Glad no harm done.

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Mudita11]

Thankfully our seagulls don’t do it too! 😂

[Annieapple]

😆 Maybe he thought your hair would make good nesting material! Jokes aside that must have been scary!! 😧 The seagulls here are cheeky but no mishaps yet!

[Irishprincess Graduate10]

OMG!!! I have two family members who suffer from ornithophobia and they would completely freak out about this 😱 They can’t even be near a robin in the garden without getting jittery so heaven knows what this experience would do to them!

But even without a phobia, that is a scary thing to have happened Dexy. Even the thought of a bird getting so close to my head gives me the shudders.

I’ve read before about birds attacking runners and remember that it was nesting season then and that was given as a reason, but that’s not the case now.

Maybe Hitchcock had a forewarning of what was to come…….. 🐦‍⬛🦅🐦‍⬛🦅 (well it is Halloween 🫣😱)

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Irishprincess]

😂 I need to run in disguise 🥸 . Apparently crows recognise faces and will often attack the same person again and again. Although I’ve read that they are scaring people away from their territory rather than actually attacking them.

[misswobble Graduate10]

Gosh, a bit alarming when you’re not expecting it!

We had a vicious crow on our street once which kept attacking everyone. The council threatened to remove it as the darned thing was a pest, with kids having to run the gauntlet to and from school. I don’t know if they did but it definitely disappeared. My husband told me it had “gone to live on a farm” 😁

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to misswobble]

It’s all a mystery isn’t it MissW? I will have to update you all on this subject, although I do hope no other incidents occur.

[misswobble Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

I expect they’re territorial 🙂

[drl212 Graduate10]

Goodness...I just read an article in the NYTimes that crows can hold a grudge for up to seven years!!

"Ms. Joyce is far from alone in fearing the wrath of the crow. CrowTrax, a website started eight years ago by Jim O’Leary, a Vancouver resident, has since received more than 8,000 reports of crow attacks in the leafy city, where crows are relatively abundant. And such encounters stretch well beyond the Pacific Northwest."

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to drl212]

Yes I read about the Vancouver runner drl212 ! My niece’s husband also heard a podcast about the same subject and says the crows actually tell each other and can gang up on you.

I must say, running in Southsea is going to be very interesting 🤔

[Cmoi Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

"the crows actually tell each other and can gang up on you." Presumably using WhatsFlapp...

Seriously, it must've been frightening for you Dexy5 . Lots of birds of prey in this département, especially red kites and buzzards, and runners have occasionally been attacked.

Genuine site about crows here: corvidresearch.blog/

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

WhatsFlap, love it Cmoi .

Thanks for the link, it is quite fascinating.

[misswobble Graduate10 in reply to drl212]

I had to have my chimneys netted as the jackdaws had become a nuisance

The chimney sweep/corvid deterrence 😀 told me about the intelligence of these birds. Apparently they’re smarter than the average 😀

[nowster Graduate10]

"Why does a raven like a running vest?" might have appeared in Alice's adventures.

Corvids are brazen, cunning and opportunistic.