The birds have got the message: ‘Stay away’ (1)

Every summer I spend a couple of weeks in the Greek island of Corfu and admire the Corfiotes’ love of nature. Unlike Malta, which looks very arid especially from the air, Corfu is completely covered with olive and cypress trees.

Birds meld with the population. In the morning, when I wake up, swifts and other birds fearlessly fly in and out of my balcony. When I swim in the pool, birds dive a metre or two away from me to cool their wings.

In the evening, when I visit Corfu Town, I see thousands of birds flying overhead devouring mosquitoes and obscuring the sky with their wings. What a magnificent sight!

Three swans swim in Korcyra Bay. These majestic birds mate for life. No divorce or infidelity exists for them. One of the swans had lost its partner and is all alone. The other two always swim together.

These swans are part of the scenery. They swim round the bay and we all feed them. They eat from my hand.

At midday they fly a metre above the water to cross to the other side of the bay near the Guvia yacht marina, creating another beautiful sight.

What is remarkable is that birds in Corfu are a natural addition to the island’s population. People accept them as friends.

The intelligent birds know this and are not afraid. They respond by delighting the inhabitants and the many tourists with their antics.

In Malta we can only dream about this kind of scenario. I believe that the birds have got the message: ‘Stay away from Malta – the inhabitants do not love us. They just shoot and kill us’.