On Sunday 26th July 2009 whilst birding at Wilson Reserve, Ivanhoe, I
was asked for information by a couple who had each been attacked on
separate occasions by a large nocturnal bird on the nearby Ivanhoe
Golf Course.
The first attack had occurred in the winter 3 years ago and the second
attack was 4 days ago (22/07/2009). The first attack was on the wife
who was walking with her husband and 2 dogs (one large and one small)
at about 7.30 pm across the golf coarse fairways near Horseshoe
Billabong in moonlit darkness.
The bird had circled overhead before swooping three times and then
stalked the 'intruders' for several hundred metres almost up to the
golf course clubhouse where it perched in a tree giving the victim a
good view of her attacker.
When shown a photo of a Powerful Owl the victim was convinced that her
attacker had been a Powerful Owl.
In the first two swoops the bird made hard physical contact but on the
third swoop the victim, very scared by this stage, managed to take
evasive action. “It was not an isolated attack or a case of mistaken
prey - it was a very calculated and repeated attack”.
The husband was attacked last Wednesday night (22/7/2009) and
sustained scratches to the back and shoulders. He was walking in the
same area with the same dogs and on this occasion was accompanied by
his 12-year-old son. The child and the dogs were not attacked. “The
force of the blow when struck by the bird was surprisingly hard and
was not just a glancing blow…it was like being hit square in the back
by a soccer ball that had been kicked fairly hard”.
In both attacks the bird struck the main victim in the top of the back
with a heavy blow and its wings also made contact with the companion
walker.
Male Powerful Owls are known to be aggressive during the breeding
season even at a considerable distance from the nest. Eye damage from
their talons is a potential hazard.
There are several regular roost trees throughout Wilson Reserve but I
am not aware of any used nest hollows in the area. A pair of Powerful
Owls, possibly at an early stage of courtship, was photographed
perching about 1 m apart on a horizontal branch on 10/04/2009 about
500 m from the attack site.
I have not spent much time at Wilson Reserve in recent months so I am
not aware of where the 'resident' Powerful Owls have been hanging out
around the time of the recent attack.
PETER THOMSON
IVANHOE VIC.
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