THE Coolum beach picnic and barbecue area, a wonderful place for a family gathering, has become a place of menace with the increase in crow numbers.

Children and parents have to guard their meals for fear of being assaulted by an ever vigilant band of watchful crows.

What happened to seagulls at the beach? I believe that the crow numbers has had an impact on the usual beachside birdlife.

On a morning walk we observed about twenty noisy crows chasing what at first seemed like a seagull, but as they swarmed up the beach we discovered that it was a white owl that was being harassed and chased, later discussions with shop owners in the area revealed that another owl was chased into a shop front awning where it crashed and died with a broken neck.

I understand that crows are protected, but it seems there is a increasing population of these crows and now I understand that the collective noun for crows (a murder) could be an accurate description of their actions on local wildlife.

Has anyone else observed this?