Canary vets on bird flu alert

The regional minister for agriculture has endorsed the words of Spain’s agriculture minister, and called for calm in the face of the most recent outbreaks of avian flu in Nigeria and Italy.

They say that Spain’s African bird trade ceased several years ago and thus considered it “highly unlikely” that an infected bird would arrive “dead or alive” in Spanish territory.

They go on to say that, "The archipelago does not possess any marshland like other regions of Spain and is therefore not a stopping off place for migrating birds."

Canary vets on bird flu alert

I only hope they are right. But am I not convinced. Do you think it could be because I watch "seasonal" birds on migration stopoffs from the windows of this very room, maybe?

Whilst I will not claim to be a bird expert, I reckon I know a swallow swooping and diving when I see it. Here, that action heralds the start of summer before it travels north. In England, we used to see this as a sign that summer was ending.

Nevertheless, although I fully trust my own eyes and instincts, I don't expect you to do so. Therefore, I looked around the net to see if I could find any reports to back it up.

Here is just a small selection:

Two spotters "spotted a wintering flock of Skylarks" at Amarilla Golf on the south of Tenerife. The islands of El Hierro and La Palma, they tell us are, "excellent for North American stragglers, especially in September/October." And, "The same that has been said about North American stragglers on Hierro and La Palma can probably be applied to Gomera." At Pico de la Zarza in Fuerteventura, they advise, "watch out for frequent flocks of Uniform Swift or for migrant or vagrant songbirds in the various types of "man-made" vegetation that make this place look so lush." They go on to say, "Furthermore, the Canaries attract dozens of North American stragglers every year, especially the more humid western islands, while the dry eastern islands hold a few North African desert specialties and can be good for western Palearctic migration."
Canary Islands Dec/Jan 1999/2000 by Henning Fedders & Frank Rheindt

In this report from September 2001, a dead osprey, ringed and with a transmitter, turned up unexpectedly in Fuerteventura. It's previous location had been off the NW tip of Spain.

The EURING Migration Project report "Recoveries of White Storks ringed in Europe are spread between southern Sweden, Cape Town, Canary Islands and India."

This report from Rare Birds in Spain talks about the life Recovery Centre of the Tenerife authorities (Centro de Recuperación de Fauna Silvestre del Cabildo de Tenerife) taking in or recovering vagrant and migrant birds. It goes on to say, "The arrival of African origin depressions that reach the Canaries from Mauritania, Sahara and Morocco coasts are behind the presence of many of these vagrants as well as some European migrants given winds coincide with their migration periods."

From the World Wildlife Fund: "Because of the short distance to Africa, the Canary Islands are visited every year by many migratory bird species that fly south in autumn in search of warmer places and go back to Europe in the spring."
Canary Islands dry woodlands and forests

Far be for me to suggest that the authorities could be deliberately telling us porkie-pies in an attempt to avert panic and salvage chicken profits ... But, I rest my case.