The news so far is that certain tern colonies in The Netherlands and France have lost up to 70% of their birds. And in the UK, tern colonies on the east coast have been hardest hit. The Isle of May and the Farne Islands are now closed to the public and Coquet Island's tern colony has been devastated, including a significant population of roseate terns. Breeding seabird colonies in Ireland do not seem to have been affected to date but concern is growing there as well.  

North Wales Wildlife Trust has been closely monitoring the situation at Cemlyn nature reserve, one of the most important tern colonies in the UK.  So far the season is proceeding as normal  and as of  21/7, the Cemlyn Sandwich terns are starting to disperse as chicks successfully fledge. As birds disperse prior to migrating south, they do gather in larger flocks. We will be helping keep a close eye on these flocks for any signs of problems.

We are extremely worried about the impact that this outbreak will have on our already threatened wild bird populations at a time when we need to focus on building resilience in vulnerable populations through species recovery and conservation measures.

A range of organisations our working to develop the Wales response plan for HPAI in Wild Birds. This includes representatives from Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales, RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts.  We will be posting regular updates as the year progress but we ask people to be vigilant and follow the DEFRA guidelines.

DEFRA Guidelines

Birds can be infected with the avian influenza virus through contact with infected individual birds or waste products. As well as domestic poultry, wild birds including waterfowl can carry and transmit the virus without showing evidence of disease. The movement of poultry around the globe, wild bird movement and migration are the main risks of transmission of the virus.

The risk of people contracting avian flu from wild birds is very low, but it is still recommended that sick or dead birds are not touched or picked up. Please report more than 3 dead wild waterfowl (swans, geese or ducks) or seabirds,  or more than 5 other birds or 1 dead bird of prey to the DEFRA helpline (03459 33 55 77).

 Please visit DEFRA’s website for more details DEFRA

Welsh Government website: WALES

Feeding Garden Birds

It is  currently recommend that bird feeders are cleaned weekly with an appropriate disinfectant and good personal hygiene is followed while doing this. There is further guidance on the BTO web site