I have experienced many positive emotions during the time I have spent at the Lake over the last couple of years. It has helped me feel calm, content, inspired, contemplative, curious, awestruck, happy, so to feel sad for part of my visit last week felt odd and perhaps hot me harder than I would have imagined.
The cause was, and is avian flu.
Avian influenza (AI), commonly known as bird flu, is a highly contagious viral disease that affects the respiratory, digestive and/or nervous system of many species of birds. It can frequently lead to the death of the bird.
In the last couple of years, a new and highly pathogenic form of avian flu has been sweeping through wild bird populations across the Northern hemisphere. The unprecedented (well, that is the current buzzword for these sorts of crises, isn’t it?) levels of mortality seen in some species of seabirds have left conservationists extremely concerned about the disease’s long-term impacts.
It turns out that unlike previous waves in Europe, the outbreaks in the last two years have continued through the summer months, suggesting this strain of Avian flu may now be endemic within Europe’s wild birds. And to add to the misery, this strain infects a much wider range of species than previous forms.
Unfortunately, though perhaps inevitably, it has arrived at Stocker’s Lake, and I saw the result in the first bird I came across on my last visit. There a body half submerged in the Grand Union Canal was the body of a dead bird. I was to see another floating body not long after from Kingfisher Bank.
While I know that nature isn’t always the kind maternal figure it is stereotypically seen as, my reaction was strong and immediate. I was hugely saddened, and worried about how far the flu would spread and how much carnage it would wreak. (And with that in mind, please read the advice at the end of the blog if you are thinking of going to the Lake)
However, I am pleased and relieved to say that I saw no more dead or even sick birds after those first two, and what I did see, did much to restore more positive feelings.
The most heartening thing was to see more birds and lots of them. The lake seemed full of birds…
and i mean full
Most of the birds in these shots are either coots or pochards
But the birds weren’t just on the lake… they were above it too. Flocks of geese flew in…
There were numerous cormorants, and I loved the variety of poses that they struck and capturing them in this one shot
Which of course didn’t include the wings akimbo drying feathers pose, but another one duly obliged
There were also numerous gadwalls, and not having seen one for a while I had forgotten just how attractive their plumage is…
A visit isn’t really complete without at least one grey heron and my mood was further lifted by snapping away at a bird whose shape and movements epitomize “awkward elegance”.
And talking about elegance – only this time, serene elegance, there were swans a-swimming
However even swans have their less serene moments and this photograph made me smile ( (It is also one that calls out for caption - any suggestions?)
By the time, I had taken in some of the sights around the lake I left feeling better, though still concerned about the future holds…
Footnote:
The FoSL website carries the following advice about Avian Flu…
“Whenever you visit the lake…….
Make sure you keep your dog (and yourself!) out of the water
If you come across a dead bird, please do not touch it
Instead, please report it by emailing HMWT at birdflu@hmwt.org. If you know the species of bird, please state this in your email. Please also describe the number of birds involved, their condition and, as accurately as you can, their location. (What3 Words is great for this.)
To avoid spreading the disease please clean your footwear when you get home”
More information is available here: https://www.fosl.org.uk/news-blog/avian-flu-alert
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