• Defra publish report into H5N1 outbreak at Abbotsbury
    Defra has today published its preliminary epidemiology report into the case of H5N1 avian influenza in mute swans at the Abbotsbury Swannery, Dorset. Though the source of infection has not been identified...
  • H7N7 avian flu confirmed in Lancashire
    This morning a case of H7N7 avian flu was confirmed on a Lancashire chicken farm near Preston. This is the same strain that caused an outbreak at a farm in Hampshire in February. Further detail on the...
  • Defra publish long-awaited indicator for UK upland birds
    Today, Defra have published a l ong-awaited indicator for the UK's upland birds, some of which are of international importance. Today’s guest blog by Pat Thompson, Senior Policy Officer (Uplands) explains...
  • RSPB reserves closest to the outbreak
    The Scottish Executive has now set up a 3km 'protection zone' around Cellardyke, where the dead swan was found, and a 10 km 'surveillance zone' around that. The Scottish Executive have also set up a 2...
  • Flying high in Oxfordshire (and in Gateshead?)
    I spent the weekend under the flight path of a conservation success story – the red kite. While warming up for the cricket season in my friend’s Oxfordshire garden, we had, at times five red kites for...