Watching the Pigeons Watching us

Day 3 10am May 26

The pigeons turn calm appraising eyes our way from roosts in different holes and gutters along the fort’s inner rim and I’m reminded of early scenes from Hitchcock’s The Birds – sometime before the gulls arrive to seriously revolt against the good folks of Bodega Bay, California and, I guess, all humanity in general. (Tippi Hedron should never have taken that pair of caged lovebirds there – it was a distinct provocation). Meanwhile here in our fort just across from Bishop’s Ness in north Kent (the current home for around 200 pairs of nesting gulls), Carol spotted a kestrel heading down a 12 inch drainage pipe just a few feet from the pigeons; who it has to be said seemed far more wary of us than of it. Are we ever to be so unwelcome everywhere, to all other life?