Category: bird flu

This week’s woefully inadequate update of bird/poultry flu in wild birds from Defra shows positive cases in seabirds (Gannet, Great Skua, Guillemot, Puffin, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull and Great Black-backed Gull), some swans and geese and another White-tailed Eagle.  The positive records come from Shetland to the south coast of England.  Little can be drawn…

Bird/Poultry flu. A couple of days ago the RSPB sent out a strongly worded press release, which I reproduced here, which was entitled ‘Defra asleep at the wheel in bird flu emergency’. I tweeted about it later that day: I received a response from Richard Benyon himself: It’s always good to have got a Minister’s…

The RSPB is calling on the Westminster government to respond to the unfolding bird flu emergency and bring together a task force of experts to deal with the current outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) currently killing tens of thousands of wild birds across the UK.  A new virulent form of bird flu that…

The impact of bird flu on wild birds is seen to be growing, even though the governments across the UK are proving to be pretty useless in having a view on this important conservation issue.  Much of the impact this summer has been seen in seabird colonies such as gannetries and tern colonies (eg see…

Concern is mounting for seabirds on RSPB Coquet Island in Northumberland, the UK’s only roseate tern breeding colony, and across the UK, following confirmed cases of Avian Influenza. A new virulent form of bird flu that originated in poultry in east Asia has now killed tens of thousands of wild birds in the UK and…