It was a mission to find out whether cable ties attached to helmets really do deter swooping magpies that led to one of more than 30 entries to The Canberra Times' spring photography competition.
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Woden resident Noel Hart was one of many getting out in the new season to gather images of a classic spring experience for the competition.
But rather than the traditional Brindabella landscapes, floral close-ups and lake shots, he got an arresting shot of an attacking magpie.
The 81-year-old jumped on his bike in late September, Go-Pro camera attached to his helmet, in a bid to prove whether cable ties attached to the helmet did deter a certain "aggressive" magpie in Woden from swooping riders.
The camera, a birthday present from his daughter last year, helped him gather video evidence during a couple of rides past the nest near the Melrose Drive underpass in Woden.
He entered a still shot from the video footage of the ride in the competition.
"I was very much aware of that magpie in particular and other riders had been commenting about it, so I went out once with cable ties and once without and took film of it to try and prove that the cable ties don't work," he said.
"It's a really aggressive magpie, some magpies don't hit the helmet, but this one hits the helmet whether you have the ties on or not, but it didn't hit my cheek or anything."
Mr Hart said he had been using the camera from time to time since his daughter gave it to him about 18 months ago, but strapped it on for the experiment.
Entering it in the competition was "just a spur of the moment thing".
"I can't remember exactly why I sent it in, just remember having seen something about it in The Canberra Times and thought I'd send it in," Mr Hart said.
It was one of 28 images capturing spring in Canberra the paper has received to date, and other photographers can still enter the spring competition until November 1, for the chance to win $1000 and have their work published.
To enter, send a maximum of three photos to photocomp@canberratimes.com.au as attached JPEG files, and include your name, address, phone number, photo title, a description of the photo and the date it was taken.
Photos must be at least 150 kilobytes and should not carry a watermark. Full terms and conditions are available at www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/competitions.
