It is confirmed. Brewer's blackbird attacks have begun to hit the City by the Bay. Today it was reported that a senior corporate attorney for a national home cleaning supply company was hit walking home from the J-Church on Market Street. It was a described as a "direct hit". The victim stated that she "walked close to a tree in order to avoid a bum" coming her way. The hit was quick. Top of her head. Thinking the bum threw something at her head, the victim turned to verbally "let the bum have it." It was not the bum. It was a blackbird. They are back.
Keep a safe distance from trees. Bald men wear a hat. Jean Jacket man protect the little ones. Feels good to be back.
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Hip hip huzzah!!!
ReplyDeleteYAY! Summers here, blackbirds are attacking!!!!!!!! Jean Jacket man will save the day once again. Ahhhh....attacking blackbirds, reasons to live have returned.
ReplyDeleteI loathe these mofos. In Vallejo I can't even go into my backyard to water my plants. It starts at 6AM and doesn't stop until 8PM. They divebomb and peck my poor dog. What if I had little kids? Does anyone know when it will stop? Seriously, I wish we could poison them. I'm not anywhere NEAR their stupid nests.
ReplyDeletehello,
ReplyDeletei can't remember if there is a special technique in order to post to the blog. two tries earlier today have not worked. in any event i would be delighted to spend time watching and protecting the babies from traffic and streetcars. can you be more specific exactly where the dive-bombing took place. i know there are many blackbirds around the market st safeway. i guess i'll try church st and market st and hopefully find them.
daniel aka jean jacket man
and heather i STILL have a present for you.
i am so glad i visited the blog this morning...haven't checked it out for a while. went to church and market to see what action was happening. checked out the entire lot from church st side to the other end below the mint. saw many blackbirds...mostly on the church st side. there is a muni 22 busstop with a wall of vines and bougainvilla that probably has a few nests. at one point i watched 4 adult males do an aggressive in flight routine similar to seeing swoops go after a gull or crow last year. but perhaps because those nests are much higher than last year's swoops/swipes nest i did not witness a single dive-bombing.
ReplyDeleteafter about an hour there, i went to california st between fillmore and steiner. last year in late june ,right after the swoops family circus finale, i got pecked on the northern side by the parking lot across from mollie stone's. this afternoon, no action on the north side but i could hear chiring in mollie's lot so i crossed the street and lo and behold, i was shocked to find two blackbird babies in the lot near corner of steiner and california. one larger than the other...i was concerned because after more than 10 minutes no parents appeared. these 2 are much earlier than swoopini and lil swopes...it's only june 9th!!...i was preparing to take them to the spca @ 15th and harrison area...years ago i kept a tiny baby sparrow from commiting accidental suicide in the divis/o'farrell zone...after an hour with no parental interaction and this teeny baby trying repeatedly to hop its way into the divisadero traffic...finally blackbird parents appeared in mollie's lot...what a relief!!!...no need to interact...went home got some seed and bread and went back to mollies...saw lots of feeding routines but also saw interesting action that we did not see last year. i saw an adult female pick on a baby repeatedly...i must assume that they do an attack on another baby as a means of protecting their young. also saw adults... male and female... attack at each other with the same
zeal swoops mustered against the gulls.
in any event, i had a great day "bird watching"...we may not experience a perfect set-up that california and front provided...a) swoops' incredible diligence,b)the height of the tree, c)amount of foot traffic,d)the perfect planter/bench for observing.
i loved it last year when someone tried to feed the meter right next to the nest-tree. we were blessed in 2009...but hey it's still june 9th and i hope others will keep us all posted re what is happening in their neighborhoods all over the city
over and out
daniel JJM
o k here's today's report...both babies in mollie stone's parking lot are fine ...the bigger is flying quite well...needs to rest a lot but i'm impressed what it managed in 24 hours. the little guy can only hop.
ReplyDeletethen hit the financial district...started at the obvious corner and then walked all over..by the embaradero buildings...down market to the ferry building...along the water going south and to transbay terminal...zero action.
went back to market and duboce...heard lots of baby chirping after arrival of adults on the east side wall of vines...too dense to see them feeding the kids....crossed the street and JACKPOT...the 2nd and 3rd tree next to the 2nd hand store both had babies...the adults were coming and going constantly but in a whole hour only saw one man get dive-bombed....however i did witness a puppy pitbull and an adult dachshund get mobbed...the puppy was oblivious but it was so funny to watch the dachshund. he stopped and made his master tug on his leash over and over. i have to think he knew what was coming...you know, once bitten, twice learned.
jean jacket man
I got zinged in the head 3 times in row from a bird on Diamond between 23rd and 24th street. Little bugger. Glad that one doesn't have an audience yet :)
ReplyDeleteJEAN JACKET MAN LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteamber, when were you dive-bombed? i walked the 4 blocks today...both sides of diamond...24 to jersey to 25 and back again...no blackbirds. saw a large limb down...reminded me of today's examiner front pic.
ReplyDeletewent to duboce and church afterward...the 2 trees that recently had babies were dead quiet....some serious chirping on the east side in the vines but no diving. looks like the babies have all grown and fledged already.
NYCKitten, did we meet last year? are you aware of Pale Male?
I live at 24th & Diamond and there is some serious dive bombing going on from the trees between Bacco and the Church. The birds always attack my hubby but don't see to bother me.
ReplyDeleteson of a gun, i just reread the comments and realize i started at 24 and went the wrong way last sunday.maybe i'll try again today. at least we can rewatch the vids that heather put on the blog when we need a "swoops fix".
ReplyDeletethis is the 2nd morning in a row I (and another guy w/ a packpack) were attacked by the same bird in the same spot (Western Addition on Webster - little mini blackbird that makes constant annoying chirps)! However, today I was ready and swung my backpack, as the bird dove in on me...didn't attack me again after that. :-)
ReplyDeletespikey,
ReplyDeleteplease advise webster and what? interesting...it is almost a full month since i found the babies hopping around mollie stone's parking lot...i thought i had to wait eleven months for some more fun.
i just walked webster from post to haight and back again...both sides and NADA!lots of sparrows,crows, and pigeons but none of swoops' cousins!
ReplyDeletehi
ReplyDeletei wanted to share a happy story with the fans of swoops. yesterday i found a baby sparrow on the ledge of a tenderloin hotel...waited for mom or dad to appear...didn't happen, so i scooped it up into a ciggie box i found on the curb and took it to the spca...so cute...and so scared...i found a baby sparrow years ago near divisadero st...i think i mentioned it on a comment on this blog..so jean jacket man got his 2010 "save a baby bird" fix. it was so little...2 inches long..couldn't fly and what was it going to eat if no parent was coming to do that "regurgitation thing"? AIN'T LIVE GRAND?
hey, I haven't been on this blog in over a year, so glad to see all the great stories about our feathered friends. I had better do another Swoops tribute on my radio show. Jean Jacket Man Rocks!
ReplyDeleteI want more Swoops stories. =(
ReplyDeleteAngry Crows Dive Bomb Officers in Everett, WA
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/10/3691518/angry-crows-dive-bomb-officers.html
I was dive-bombed today by a blackbird on 24th near Diamond. Swooped me twice and second time it grabbed my hair!
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