AVIAN FLU WIPES OUT GEESE IN SCOTLAND
Avian flu has killed thousands of geese who have migrated to Scotland from the Arctic Circle.
Andrew Bielinski, the RSPB area manager for the Scottish Lowlands and Southern Uplands, said he had never seen anything on this scale before.
Their reserve at Mersehead – about 18 miles from Dumfries – has been particularly badly affected.
He said: “We did a count of dead birds on the Mersehead just last Friday which had 744 dead birds, most of which were barnacle geese.
“Previously we had picked up something like 120.”
He said that meant the figure along the length of the Solway Coast would be much higher.
“We are probably approaching 4,000 – certainly over 3,000 – mostly barnacle geese,” he estimated.
“It is pretty large scale and it is likely to get worse.
“It is unprecedented, I have worked in the area for 25 years and I don’t ever remember us seeing this many birds dying.”
In a normal year, he said, you would get a few birds dying but now the sight of dead geese “dotted around” has become commonplace.
He told BBC Scotland it was not difficult to spot an affected bird – as he did during a recent visit.
“It is quite distressing for staff and visitors on the reserve.
“We have been collecting the birds because it is not really what we want our visitors to see, lots of dead barnacle geese around the place.”
The arrival of barnacle geese on the Solway Coast in south west Scotland is usually something to be celebrated.
There is even a festival held in honour of their migratory journey from Svalbard, north of the Arctic Circle.
Visitors normally head to spots along the Dumfries and Galloway coast to see the spectacular site of the tens of thousands of birds.
