Surprises behind the crap tower

This “surprise” was a heron which scattered from behind a sewer tower and managed to get caught in my uplifting camera lense.

Public warned to stay alert, look directly at the bird

"Something just came down, pecked me in the head, took my hair and started flying away," she said. "It's so bizarre. It's this little bird."

But the bird's favorite targets appeared to be passing bikers, who flailed helplessly as they were pecked and scratched for more than 50 yards along Grand.

Soltow sees potential for danger.

Anyone under the blackbird's radar should stay alert and look directly at the bird, Stotz said.

And when all else fails and dignity is not a factor, McDermott said, the bird will shoo if you bark like a dog.

Birds like bees

Like bees, the birds have been putting on daily displays reminiscent of the tamer scenes in Alfred Hitchcock's classic, "The Birds."

nbc11.com
Published February 20, 2008

Clearly, the man & his wife ate the baby owls

An old man in Hunan Province said an owl has taken a special liking to attacking his head. When he leaves home, the owl often starts pecking his head, forcing the man to wear a special hat, Changsha Evening News reported today.

"The owl began attacking me in March, when I was working in an orange grove," the 79-year-old Yang Decai said."I don't remember how many times it has attacked me, but the day before yesterday, it pecked me 20 times," Yang said. "It doesn't hurt but it is really annoying."

Yang wears a hat with nails sticking out of a piece of wood to protect himself from the owl. The owl sometimes cooperates with another owl – one hooting in a tree and the other swooping in to attack, the report said.

Yang's wife has also been attacked several times. Other family members have been left alone, the report said.

Yang said the owl may be seeking revenge because he removed a nest with two baby owls from his roof. "They must be the baby owls' parents and want revenge," Yang said. However, an expert from the forestry bureau in Huaihua City, Hunan, said the owl's strange behavior may be because it feels threatened or that Yang carries a special scent.

The expert suggested Yang ask local forestry officials to catch the owl or scare it away.

--Shanghaidaily.com

Man dies after magpie attack

A ROGUE magpie has been captured and destroyed after fatally injuring one man and seriously injuring a tourist. A Mildura man, 74, received severe eye injuries when a local magpie swooped from trees in the Victorian town. The man, who collapsed after the attack, died on Tuesday night at Melbourne's Royal Eye and Ear Hospital. A South Korean tourist attacked by the same magpie was taken to hospital. Department of Sustainability and Environment officers destroyed the magpie.

–news.com.au, 5 September 2003

"Behavioral Ecologist" admits to perverted hobby

LITCHFIELD, Conn. — “This guy’s the champion,” said Patricia Brennan, a behavioral ecologist, leaning over the nether regions of a duck — a Meller’s duck from Madagascar, to be specific — and carefully coaxing out his phallus.

-New York Times

Crows: "nasty, sinister things"

Joggers are today being warned about violent crows in London parks after an attack left a man bloodied and needing hospital treatment. Mr Keay today told how he was running his usual route through Battersea Park when the birds swooped on him. The crows clawed his head with their talons and pecked at him furiously.

Although it is extremely unusual for crows to attack humans, joggers are now being warned to be extra vigilant.

"I thought they were very nasty, sinister things."she said. "Two of them focused in on me as I walked past. I couldn't help thinking of that Hitchcock film."

Mr Keay, a father of two young children, added: "What really worries me is that it could happen again - and it could be a lot worse if the crows attacked children. They could literally have their eyes out."

thisislondon.com, 10 June 2005

Grackles attack blouse

Another bird attacked a deputy county clerk.

I hit him with a bottle," said Sylvia Velasquez. "The other birds came, and one attacked my blouse and on my back."

Two women came to help her after she fell to the ground, and the birds attacked them as well. The group escaped by running into the building.

MYWAY.com
May 18, 7:24 AM (ET)
Reuters, May 20, 2005