Swoop 2006!

The season has officially begun. For weeks I have been cautiously eyeing the sky, looking for sudden movements in the trees, listening for that all too familiar sound of fluttering feathers as these black and white dive bombers make their approach. In four days of cycling, I can report three strikes, all within a 2km radius of the ANU. The worst of these, as always, was the first of the season, which took me completely by surprise. This magpie, for whatever reason, has decided the best place to setup shop for the spring time egg hatching season is in a tree right next to the ANU's main entrance gate. I don't have the stats, but on any given day I would expect a few hundred cyclists probably pass through this gate. This magpie has decided to take on the formidable task of swooping just about every cyclist passing through this entrance. It must surely be the most strung out magpie in Canberra, and if I were the magpie, I'd be having a very serious chat with my real estate agent.

This morning I received my third swooping of the week, this time from a different bird preferring the quieter surrounds of Black Mountain - though not quiet enough apparently. The interesting thing about this magpie is that I have been observing it for weeks, sitting on a power line above the road, watching the traffic below with great skepticism. It has always had that look - that look of being on edge, and very trigger ready, that look that at any moment, it might just snap, and decide "that's it!". Well, I am not sure what happened over night, but clearly magpie central radioed in some sort of "fire at will" command, because I received a pretty comprehensive swooping this morning, and a clear message that Black Mountain is no longer a viable cycling option.

Of course, these magpies do not really inflict any injuries, so long as you are wearing a helmet. My real fear is not the magpie itself, but my reaction to the magpie, which normally involves my bike fish-tailing uncontrollably as I apply the brakes suddenly, and attempt to make eye contact with the bird (because this is somehow supposed to act as a deterrent). Riding along a busy three lane road makes this quite a stressful affair, and it has become abundantly clear that I should stick to the bike paths for the remainder of the magpie season.

So be warned Canberran cyclists - swoop 2006 has begun!