Man 'clonked on head' in swooping buzzard attack

A man has described the moment he was struck by a swooping buzzard as he walked along a footpath, saying it felt like someone had "thrown a brick" at him. Ben Storer said he was walking near the village of Coleorton, Leicestershire, when the bird attacked him. "I didn't see anything, didn't hear anything, but just got clonked on the head from behind," Storer said. Stephen Cleaver, who owns Gellsmoor Restaurant, which is located near the footpath, said people had come in with "blood dripping from their heads" and that staff had also been targeted by "Boris the buzzard". Storer said he went into the restaurant to clean the blood, but that on his way back the buzzard attempted to attack him again, despite taking a different route. The 50-year-old told the BBC he later visited hospital for his wound to be cleaned and glued, where he said staff had a "hard time" believing the cause of the injury. "I was lucky, it could have been a child," Storer added. Cleaver said the buzzard had been flying at residents every spring for almost five years. "You can see it from the car park flying around and it has attacked a lot of staff - some of the young kids that live in the village - and they come

Jun 19, 2026 → Jun 19, 2026