Avian Flu

[Marigold]

Good for Owen Glyndwr. All he had to contend with was the Black Death. Not as bad as the English nowadays.

 

[bigyetiman]

Fingers crossed Margaid you stay safe.
Thousands of birds are being washed up along the UK coasts, now it has reached Coquet island where the rare Roseate terns breed. Skuas on Shetland have been hit hard.
I have put my hens back into lockdown, not a lot I can do about the wildfowl on the lake that travel to and fro

 

[Icemaiden]

Yet there's not a word about it in the papers or on DEFRA'S website 19

 

[LadyA]

Not a word about bird flu here either. Are we facing the end of free range poultry?


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[Margaid]

I hope not Lady A but of more concern is are we going to lose huge numbers of wild birds?

Thanks BYM, my test was negative so all is OK for the time being.

 

[Marigold]

I’m glad you’re OK, Margaid. But re your 4-times vaccinated friend; this article is interesting, from the Guardian yesterday.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/01/herd-immunity-covid-virus-vaccine

 

[Icemaiden]

Thank you for that, Marigold. An interesting article.

 

[bigyetiman]

Yes it is strange, very high mortality rate on the Gannet colony at Bass rock, Norfolk tern colonies and at RSPB Minsmere have had large numbers of dead birds. About 34 dead gulls at Rainham marsh this morning.

Glad you are ok Margaid. a neighbour's grandkids have gone down with the latest variant going around, which is their 3rd time of having Covid

 

[dianefairhall]

We have no info on avian flu here either but not heard of any. Worrying that our hen Skye died but she showed no signs of infection.

 

[bigyetiman]

It does seem to be coastal, and has spread from northwards down with predominantly seabirds affected. Some really distressing pics of birds dying on Twitter.
Today 343 dead juvenile Guillemots have been picked up, along with adults. Several hundred Gannets dying on a beach. Just in one small area. Not just confined to here as a whole endangered Caspian Tern colony has succumbed to it in America.

Doesn't seem to be any info on the DEFRA site.

Locally two more RSPB reserves along the river, are seeing large numbers of dead birds.

 

[bigyetiman]

Just been confirmed by the RSPB and other wildlife bodies that the Sandwich Tern colony on Coquet island has had every chick die of Avian flu, and Scolt Head Norfolk has seen 75% of juvenile terns die with more found dying plus adults.

We had a notice from DEFRA today telling us due to the high number of bird deaths in Essex, what to do if we find any

 

[Marigold]

What do you have to do if you find any dead birds? And how do you know if they’ve died from avian flu?

 

[LadyA]

BYM, that's so very sad. So much damage to entire colonies.

When I lived in New Mexico, I remember if you found any dead or ill rodents on your property, you had to report it - can't remember who to (to whom? Correct grammar escapes me at this time of night!) - Dept of Agriculture, maybe. Bubonic Plague (Black Death) is endemic in the rodent population there, and they like to keep an eye on any potential outbreaks. Every year, several people contract it, and a few die. I always think about that with bird flu - the thought of it mutating and being easily spread to and among people. Not a pleasant thought.

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[bigyetiman]

From the notice sent out, if you find a lone bird, put gloves on and seal it in two plastic bags and dispose of in bin. If you see more than 5 birds phone Defra who will come and remove for testing.

Although with the birds at Rainham, DEFRA took several days to arrive, by which time birds of prey and corvids had been eating the corpses happily

All 1,964 Sandwich Tern nests on Coquet island suffered 100% mortality, the adults died and then the chicks either succumbed to Avian flu or starved to death, data still being collated on the Roseate Tern colony

 

[dianefairhall]

That is tragic, and very very sad.

 

[Marigold]

And furthermore, the impact of importing pheasants for shooting.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/09/pheasant-shoots-scaled-back-across-uk-after-bird-flu-import-bans

 

[Hen-Gen]

Oh bym that’s terrible news about the terns. I’m really saddened. Was it one of those that was thriving after the introduction of nest boxes?

 

[bigyetiman]

Not sure about the Roseate Terns and nest boxes Hen-Gen, but they have a precarious foothold in the UK with only a handful nesting.
You can imagine how upsetting for the warden who is collating all this data.

Nothing has been reported dead locally this week.

 

[bigyetiman]

Update from Coquet Island, although most of the Terns died, Kittiwakes, Fulmars and Puffins nesting around them have been totally unaffected.
Which is a bit of good news amidst the gloom

 

[Marigold]

Indeed, thanks for that. I wonder what was the secret of their apparent immunity?