In recent months I have been astonished by the number of crows that have populated our community. It is reminiscent of the movie The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock. Where did they come from and why?

The population was decimated when the West Nile virus swept the country, but in many areas, even Birmingham, Alabama, the population is re-surging.

It is amusing to talk to neighbors in Burlingame and hear all the stories about these invaders.

Basically harmless, they travel in numbers and are quite noisy and arrogant. One sunny morning I went into my backyard to see at least a dozen of these creatures bouncing around my lawn, then out of the blue Smalls, my French bulldog, came bursting out of the house barking, and poof they were gone.

They sit on wires, fences, trees, and in the middle of the street. What did we do to deserve the arrival of these menacing aviary visitors?

I have heard more than one neighbor say it’s time to invest in pellet guns, but for me it’s just another problem in paradise.