Farne Islands and Coquet Island 'may take years to recover' from bird flu

Bird populations off the Northumberland coast could "take years to recover" after avian flu ravaged numbers in recent months.

More than 5,000 dead birds have been found at Coquet Island with a similar number at the Farne Islands. Colonies of Roseate, Sandwich, Arctic and Common Terns have been affected, as well as Kittiwake and Puffin.

Breeding Guillemots on the Farne Islands (Harriet Day).

Farne Island warden Harriet Read described it as "heart-breaking". "It hit so many of the species," she told BBC Radio Newcastle. "On the outer group of islands it was very quick. We suddenly had a lot of dead birds on our hands. It spread like wildfire."

She said they had so far picked up more than 5,000 dead birds of different species with Guillemots and Kittiwakes "hardest hit".

"All the species on the islands have been affected differently," she commented. "But I would think it would take years to recover from something like this because we have lost quite a lot of this year's breeding adults as well as this year's chicks. The silver lining is quite a few have fledged."

Coquet Island warden Paul Morrison described birds "dying by the hundreds" shortly after initial signs of avian flu were spotted.

He said: "We've just finished clearing the island of dead birds and burying them under licence. We are seeing a glimmer of hope with the last few birds leaving the island that managed to avoid this plague.

"We're in the process of disinfecting all the nesting areas, nest boxes, the paths and anything else that could potentially harbour this horrible virus. This next year will be very important to study carefully and assess how well or poorly the population is doing in terms of recovery."