The growing number of birds in Norwich market has pushed the council to adopt extreme measures – including a hawk and oral contraceptives. But for the city’s pigeon-loving activists, they are just misunderstood creatures
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t nine o’clock on Saturday morning, Norwich market is only just stirring: shutters are still down and the aisles are quiet. In the nearby Memorial Gardens, however, a large crowd has already gathered: the market’s pigeons are waiting to be fed.
Jenny Coupland arrives on the scene a little later than her usual hour, with a backpack brimming with seed. As she begins doling it out, the birds descend from their perches and cover the ground, pecking furiously. The sun catches their bobbing heads, sending iridescent shimmers across their brown and grey feathers.
A few passersby stop to watch; one takes a photo. The sheer number of birds is a spectacle – not to mention startling, when they all abruptly take flight. “They’re a bit jumpy today,” says Coupland, 43. Judging by the wary glances she shoots at the onlookers, she’s not just referring to the birds.
