Wednesday 27 August 2014

Not good !!

Monday along with my wife we watched what looked to be a rather poorly looking Greenfinch attempting to feed from our garden bird feeders it looked puffed up ,lethargic,and rather snotty around the beak area, it was startled shortly afterwards and not seen again until my grandson discovered it dead by the flower border on Tuesday morning and was duly disposed of. However i must confess i hadn't given it any further thought until Wednesday afternoon when sorting some gear out for an impending trip i noticed another Greenfinch looking sick so i took a few very disturbing photo's in an attempt to look into it further here,s what i took.





I googled it and it looks like TRICHOMONOSIS which is sometimes called fat finch disease and for this poor bird it will probably be fatal,the BTO recommend the following


What you can do
Follow sensible hygiene precautions as a routine measure when feeding garden birds and handling bird feeders and tables. Clean and disinfect feeders and feeding sites regularly. Suitable disinfectants that can be used include a weak solution of domestic bleach (5% sodium hypochlorite) or other specially-designed commercial products. Always rinse feeders thoroughly and air-dry before re-use.
Rotate positions of feeders in the garden to prevent the build up of contamination in any one area of ground below the feeders. Empty and air dry any bird baths on a daily basis. You may wish to consider stopping feeding if you have an outbreak of the disease at your feeding station, in an attempt to force the birds to feed elsewhere at a lower density (although in reality they may end up visiting another feeding station and possibly one where no hygiene measures are in place.

I have removed all my feeders scrubbed and turned upside down the bird bath so it will dry,they will remain like that for the next two weeks,living next to Holywell dene almost everyone in the street has feeders etc out for the birds so in an attempt to help further i will print off a couple of photo,s and the above precautions and pass them around my neighbours (it may help).

                                            Be vigilant and thanks for looking

2 comments:

  1. A sad sight and something to be avoided if possible by cleaning feeding stations as recommeded. I do this regularly but possibly not as often as i mevvies should. Good idea informing the neighbours. I'll mention about cleaning to mine. Cheers
    John.

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