A large bird of prey is terrorising runners at Riverside Nature Park in Dundee.
The latest victim is 31-year-old David Hay, who had to sprint at full speed through the parkland to avoid razor sharp talons which passed within inches of his head.
Despite three dive-bomb attacks, the bird, thought to be a buzzard, did not harm the Fife man but did manage to chase him out of the area.
”The first I knew of it was when I heard this swoosh just above my head,” said David, who was on a lunch break from his work at GFI MAX. ”I looked up and could see this big bird with talons.
”I am no bird watcher but I knew it was not a chaffinch or a seagull.”
After the first swoop the bird climbed into the air before turning and lining itself up for another attack.
”When it looped round and came for me again I was really sprinting I was pretty scared,” David said. ”Then it came round for a third time before it left me alone.”
Exhausted but unhurt, David managed to make it to the main road before the bird lost interest.
It wasn’t until David returned to his office at Greenmarket and began recounting his ordeal that he learned of a similar incident.
”One of my colleagues said that the same thing happened to him when he was running through the park,” David said. ”It makes you wonder what would happen, though, if the bird went for a dog.”
Although it is not clear what species of bird is responsible for the latest attack, an expert believes it was almost certainly a buzzard.
Bob McCurley of the Angus and Dundee Bird Club added that it is extremely unusual for the species, which can have a wingspan of up to 54 inches, to swoop on a human.
”I was at the Riverside Nature Park only last week and saw a buzzard there,” Bob said. ”If the bird was described as big then it is almost certainly a buzzard.
”The only other possibility would be a sparrowhawk but they are much smaller.
”It’s very unusual for a buzzard to go for a person but they will protect their young at this time of year. They will chase what they perceive to be a threat out of the area.”