UPDATE - 25th May
As further research is published on Avian Influenza and best practice guidance is adapted we continue to review our own approach. As such we will now be removing dead birds from North Cave Wetlands.
Staff will use the highest standards of protective equipment to ensure their safety during this delicate operation, and working as quickly as is safely possible to minimise their own exposure and the disturbance to the birds.
We thank our partner and landowner Breedon for their help and cooperation and we also want to thank all our visitors for the concern and support shown over the last few weeks.
We also ask visitors to please follow good practise on biosecurity - cleaning boots and tyres between visits to North Cave Wetlands and other reserves.
We remain hopeful this awful disease has now peaked on our reserve and look forward to seeing the emerging chicks fledge successfully later in the year.
27th April
We have submitted samples for testing to provide confirmation, but we strongly suspect that this is an outbreak of Avian (bird) Flu. Similar outbreaks are being seen in gulls at other sites around the country.
Our colleagues have never seen mortality this high before and – along with visitors who have reported the deaths – are distressed to see the impact this terrible disease has likely had on the gull colony. We are monitoring the reserve closely for other cases too.
If confirmed, this will be the most significant outbreak on a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve. We are also investigating and responding to other potential cases on our reserves across the region, including Potteric Carr.
This disease will have an impact on a species that has seen population numbers decline in recent years, and at a crucial time of year when the gulls should be raising young. At North Cave Wetlands, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust provides critical habitat for Yorkshire’s largest black-headed gull colony, which has grown in the last decade.
Sadly, Avian flu is a disease that is spread between wild birds and aquatic birds like gulls, ducks and geese are considered most at risk. We can’t stop this happening, but we can help our wild birds to be healthy and thrive, to withstand disease outbreaks like this. They already face pressures from habitat loss, pollution and a decline in insects and other food sources.
Nature reserves remain one of the best lines of defence for many bird populations.
There are no plans to close our reserves at the moment, but we are monitoring closely and may have to restrict access or close parts of our reserves to protect wildlife. It is crucial that birds remain undisturbed as we know the stress of disturbance can increase transmission of the virus.
We ask our reserve visitors to help us please;
• Keeping to the paths and not disturbing the birds in any way.
• Where we allow dogs, please keep them on leads and do not let them disturb any wildlife. Take all litter and dog poo home.
• Please do not touch sick, injured or dying birds
• If a dead bird is seen close to a public area, like a footpath, on our reserves, please report it to us at media@ywt.org.uk
If you’d like to know more about how important our wetlands are for birds, read more here.
More about Avian Flu.