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Bird flu spreads to otters.

Dismiss it as BBC bollocks if it suits your world view, but in the real world It's deeply concerning situation. And one that won't go away anytime soon.

It is possible that bird-flu may have a similar impact on bird populations to DDT in the 50's and 60's. That's an awful prospect when you consider how bird populations across europe are already in a tailspin for varying reasons.

I've zero idea of the potential impact on the UK's mammal population but any right thinking countryman/angler would be concerned about the potential impact on the food chain and how that might impact on an opportunistic predator. Less waterfowl for otters to predate means they will more reliant on fish stocks. That's not good news.
 
I watched the BBC report this morning, foxes getting it too. The video showed a fox, then when they mentioned otters, they switched to a video of a beaver. Obviously not experts on wildlife down at BBC HQ.
 
Paul Bullinger said:
I saw that. Was rather hoping it would knock out the cormorants that forage on our fish stocks in our club lake! 🤞🏻
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Natural England delayed issuing cormorant control licences this Winter for exactly that reason. They waited until they had details of the impact on cormorant numbers. Suggestions are that cormorant numbers might be down 20%.

Anecdotal evidence on my lake suggests there are significantly fewer around this Winter. Surprisingly I’ve seen a big increase in goosander sightings.
 
David Schofield said:
This is more worrying than bird flu on angling
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I have to agree with this chaps views . My limited experience of the EA's response to pollution has been bad . I recently reported a major diesel spill on the Yorkshire Ouse , multiple slicks of diesel along several miles of the river . I rang the help line , they logged my details but were slightly grumpy when I couldn't provide them with the postcode of where I saw the pollution .Other people reported the pollution as well , to the best of my knowledge nobody came out to investigate and despite asking for someone to get back to me ,nobody provided an update . Doesn't exactly fill you with confidence does it ....
 
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