'Clashnessie beach looked like a battlefield': Assynt Field Club say government figures do not represent true scale of bird flu in north-west
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A government website is not representing the true extent of the avian flu outbreak on wild birds in north-west Sutherland, according to a local field club.
Assynt Field Club say scores of dead and dying birds are continuing to wash ashore onto the area's beaches.
It posted on its social media page that Clashnessie beach looked like a “battlefield” on one day last week with “bird remains from one end to another”.
Yet despite the situation on the ground, it says the Animal and Plant Health Agency website shows there have been no recorded cases in the north-west.
Europe has been experiencing its biggest ever avian flu outbreak. The highly contagious virus usually dies out in the summer but this year it has persisted year-round.
Dead birds have been reported on beaches across Sutherland.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is encouraging members of the public to report findings of a single bird of prey, three or more dead wild waterfowl and gulls or five or more dead birds of any species.
Assynt Field Club said: “ The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that was having a devastating impact on seabirds all around the UK has not gone away, despite the lack of recent headlines."
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Members acknowledge that while they may suspect it is the case, they cannot say for certain that the latest birds washed ashore in the north-west died from avian flu. The area has experienced bad weather recently, which “always takes its toll on seabirds”.
“As far as we know, none of Assynt’s dead birds have been collected for testing,” the club said. “If you check the UK Government's own pages about the situation, there have still not been any cases in the area.
“On their Animal and Health Plant Health Agency map, it’s the same three dots on the west coast that have been there since we started counting dead birds washing ashore."
The latest government statistics on bird flu in the Highland area were updated two weeks ago, indicating only three positive cases of bird flu in the Highland area, in the gannet and fulmar bird species.
Some 20 birds were found dead at Clashnessie on September 30, when club members visited. They identified eight gannets, two guillemots, one razorbill, one little auk, one great sku, fulmar and three gull species.
“It’s clear that many of these birds had been dead for more than three days,” said the club. “So, it is very likely that they have been simply floating offshore and the recent north winds have pushed them ashore.
“Several boat operators have stated over the months that there are a lot of dead birds floating around."
The Animal and Plant Health Agency - an executive agency of DEFRA - says it “operates a robust, year-round programme of surveillance on dead wild birds.
