'Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza'

The sky was suitably grey when we took our morning walk along the path that leads from the village to Dunrobin Castle because, as soon as we left the track and walked along the beach, we found what can only be described as carnage.

In a half-mile section of the coast we counted....

....over twenty dead guillemots washed up with the seaweed with, in some places....

....several of them within a few yards.

Not all were dead. This one, which had probably come in within the last few hours, stood stock still with its beak pointing into the air as if patiently awaiting its fate.

Because this is how we are accustomed to seeing them, flying free upon the wind, the corpses of the....

....gannets, apparently in prefect condition, were most upsetting.

This came after reading on the BBC News website that our population of rare roseate terns is now added as a species being badly affected by this new, virulent form of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). We'd been worried that we hadn't seen any of the local sandwich terns for some time but happily saw a small flock yesterday and another today.

The RSPB is closing reserves to try to ensure that the remaining populations of all affected species are as undisturbed as possible. The organisation is appealing to the government to lead a much more organised response to the disaster, including monitoring where birds are being badly affected - such as along our local coast.