Red-Winged Dive Bomber

There are some red-winged blackbirds in my neighbourhood who don’t take kindly to us humans coming too close to their nests in springtime. Of course, we have no idea exactly where their nests are, and we’re just trying to make our way down the street - Ottawa’s Echo Drive - to be specific.

Here are a few comments from the Old Ottawa South Facebook Group.

Got me!!

Yep! Was regularly attacked there years ago while passing on my bike.

I'm glad I'd seen this post before getting pinged in the back of the head (for the first time ever) on Friday morning in this very spot. If I hadn't known it was a regular thing, I'd have been afraid I was turning into Tippi Hedren in The Birds!

The angry bird buzzed past my head the first time, then hit me on the second time. I was thinking of adding a helmet or umbrella to my morning walk!

I was 'dive bombed' there yesterday, as I was contemplating what the meaning of the sign really meant.

That explains the whack on the head I felt this week…

Yup, and I was “whacked” by this bird yesterday! That’ll teach me not to slow down while reading the signs.

My son got attacked there this week. Luckily, he thought it was hilarious.

I heard a woman on a CBC call-in show saying she used to walk by there in the 1950s and was regularly attacked by a redwing blackbird. I too remember redwing attacks over the years. It's a family trait I reckon.