Where: Trafalgar Square, London, UK

When: Dawn, August 2005

What: Pigeons at Trafalgar Square
Named after the naval battle of 1805, Trafalgar Square is one of the most famous squares in the world, and is home to Nelson’s Column, the National Gallery and, of course, many many pigeons.

Feeding the pigeons at the square was a seemingly obligatory activity for photo-snapping tourists in the past, but in 2000 the sale of birdseed in the square was terminated. At its peak, the flock of pigeons at the square was estimated to be 35,000.

Pigeons mate for life and rear their broods together, but if one dies the other will take a new mate. The parents share egg-sitting duty with the female working the late afternoon shift and through the night and the male taking over around 10am for the day shift.

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Pigeons have enormous fields of vision – they can see 340-degrees around without moving, thanks to their side-mounted eyes. The peripheral vision of each eye is so great that the two visual fields overlap, giving the pigeon a binocular field of 24-degrees when it looks straight ahead.

Why: “Trafalgar square celebrates the famous naval victory at the Battle of Traflagar in 1805,” photographer Pearson writes. “More recently it has been host to a battle of a different nature: Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone versus the pigeons. Ken has employed a mob of hawks to circle the square and scare away the pigeons. In fact, last year he spent £105,000 on a hawk to chase them from the Square and a further £30,000 was spent in undertaking a scientific study to make sure that the pigeons were not being harmed. This panorama was taken in August 2005 - I think the pigeons aren't for turning!”

How: D70 + 10.5 + 360 Precision
Email: will[at]digitaldreamworld[dot]co[dot]uk