I have been watching bird behaviour over the last week and I have made a number of visits to Winchelsea and the Pett levels. As you drive on the road which runs alongside of the beach,look ahead and above and you will see birds of prey; kestrels and marsh harriers being attacked by Covids. As a lover of history and the world wars, the ariel battles between the birds remind me of the battles played out over the Kent fields by spitfires and hurricanes, protecting our country from the threat of German invasion. Both species are fighting for survival- the kestrel needs to eat and the covids are trying to send a message out to the kestrel “move on, your not welcome”.The kestrel reminds me of a bomb aimer; despite being attacked by covids, the kestrel’s head is still until it’s ready to drop despite the flack of the covids which can attack in numbers.

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Outside my house in East Sussex there is a very old oak tree which attracts hundreds of different species from the tiniest insect to the largest Covid.The dominant species in this particular oak tree is the Covid. Ravens crows ,magpies and rooks dominate the branches; it is their safe place and they are reluctant to share particularly, during the breeding season.

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However, occasionally the oak becomes vacant and very soon starlings arrive in numbers. The covids accept their arrival and are tolerant of this invasion, but as soon as a few collared doves arrive ,they are quickly attacked and moved on.There is such a thing as overcrowding. Birds it seems are no different to humans; the exodus from cities to the less crowded countryside has been forced upon us. Jobs and housing become hard to find and, like the birds, we move on. I have no doubt that as soon as the tree becomes uninhabitable, the birds to will look to find somewhere better and less crowded.

Water birds and waders seem to be more tolerant of each other.

The reason for this is they feel comfortable with each other because they are not fighting for the same habitats. There is an abundance of food and nesting sites. If you compare waterbirds with those humans living around the Richmond park areas where the houses are large and the parks are huge , there’s space for all sorts of different people. Humans there have become the water birds of London ,the liberal elite.

These are my observations alone.

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