A worrying discovery on Dunces Corner Pond a few days ago when I pulled the bodies of three birds out of the pond.

The strange thing was the disparate nature of the species found, we had a Shoveller Duck, a Jack Snipe (new to the reserve), and a Fieldfare.

My first thought was ‘Oh no Avian Flu’ which it may have been BUT none of my resident waterfowl seem to have been affected. The Jack Snipe and Fieldfare are not pond dwellers usually.

My thoughts are that as these are migrants that maybe they were infected and happened to die while crossing the pond, which seems an unlikely occurrence when they were all found on the same day.

or

They are migrants that came onto the reserve at night and hit the powerlines above the pond.

I did report the finding on the DEFRA helpline, they did not appear too concerned. My fingers are crossed it is not Avian Flu, I found these birds last Friday and I have been checking the pond every day since and not found any further victims.