Suddenly I felt a
smack to the back of the head. Picking my headphones back up again I quickly
looked around at what might have mercilessly attacked me with no provocation
what so ever. I thought perhaps somebody had carelessly thrown a ball or Frisbee.
However to my surprise I saw a magpie fluttering about just above me in what I
can only describe as some sort of victory dance.
Apparently spring for
the Australian magpie is the nesting season and anything (especially humans)
that gets too close to their nesting tree gets ‘swooped’ as some rudimentary protection
method.
Their modus operandi is
to lay in weight high in the branches above until some unsuspecting pedestrian or
cyclist happen by. Using the forces of both gravity and flight they swoop down from
behind (always from behind) with great speed and clip you in the back of the
head.
That’s what I call
Mother Nature giving you the bird.
Daz
