Please see the following notice from Rebecca Linney, Harbourmaster at the Brayford Pool/Trust
Good Morning
We suspect that we have cases of bird flu in the Brayford Pool, however this has not been confirmed by DEFRA yet.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have advised that bird flu is primary a disease of birds and the risk to the general public’s health is very low. However, we would recommend you avoid close contact and interactions with wild birds, and do not feed or handle them. If you find any dead birds do not touch them and please report them to the Harbour Office. Up to date guidance can be found on the Government website.
Sadly, we lost our longstanding breeding pair Boris and Feisty, who nest near to the platform halfway from the Harbour Office to the middle gate. There is only one cygnet remaining from their last set of young. Boris and Feisty have made their final journey together to be tested for bird flu and were collected by a representative from DEFRA on Tuesday.
We have had to take 3 dead geese from the Pool and one of these has been taken for testing too, the others disposed of correctly.
There is another pair of swans on the Brayford Pool, Roxy and Dickie, they nest on the island and can often be seen preening on the slipway nearest the narrowboat moorings. We have not seen Roxy and Dickie recently, but they have taken their cygnets away. (This is normal behaviour to protect their territory).
I miss Boris and Feisty, they have been a part of my life for over a decade, I could always guarantee a large dose of sass and side eye when I walked past them and a death stare when I tried to rescue countless ducklings from Boris’s ‘overprotective nature’! Boris was 12 and Feisty the grand old age of 17. However, nature does not stay still for long and we had handbags at dawn yesterday as two new sets of swans were fighting for territory in the Pool. Plus, a new cygnet has joined us and paired up with the remaining cygnet. I haven’t been able to get their tag numbers yet, so I am not sure who it is.
If you have any concerns about the possible outbreak of bird flu, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Kind regards
Rebecca Linney
Harbourmaster
07511 674 065