A JOGGER out for a run in Slimbridge came under attack when a buzzard swooped down and struck him on the back of the head in a bloody attack.

Dominic Holden, 38, said he was jogging on Moorend Lane, in Slimbridge, when he felt something hit the back of his head with the force of a punch.

Thinking somebody had hit him or thrown something at him, Dominic spun around. Seeing nothing, it wasn’t until looking skyward and seeing a large buzzard circling overhead that he realised a human had not inflicted the damage after all.

After dropping his children off at a swimming pool in Gloucester on Saturday, Dominic, who lives with his partner and two children in Wanswell near Berkeley, went for a jog through Slimbridge.

“I was running along and had my headphones in when suddenly I felt an almighty whack on the back of the head,” he said.

“It was like somebody had punched me, but when I turned around there was nothing. I then looked up and saw a huge buzzard flying up and away from me.

“It then carried on after me for a while, circling overhead. I can’t imagine it’s that common.”

It was when he got home that Dominic realised the damage inflicted by the bird.

“There were six puncture marks in the back of my head where its talons were with some blood coming out,” he continued.

“I would have liked to have been able to see it going in from the attack, the speed it must have been travelling.

“I got away relatively easy but someone else, particularly a child, could come off a lot worse than me.”

Though the head wounds were minor, Dominic will still have to get a tetanus jab following the incident.

Director of conservation at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Dr Colin Studholme said that while a bird attack is not especially surprising, an attack from a buzzard is somewhat out of the ordinary.

He said: “It is not uncommon for some species to try to ward off humans like this, especially in the breeding season, but this is the first time we have heard of a buzzard doing it.

“It is well known behaviour in terns, and in gulls as we know more locally in Gloucester. The bird’s behaviour is driven by the instinct to protect their eggs and young and usually happens when someone inadvertently gets too close to a nest.

“The best thing to do is back off and the harassment should cease – then just find a different route until the birds have finished nesting.”