Seagull with suspected bird flu drops out of sky in Brighton

The gull plummeted to its death and was witnessed by a man near Brighton Palace Pier.

It was one of three dead seagulls seen by the one man on that day which he reported to the council and one of several that have been found dead on roofs and pavements in the city.

The man, who wished not to be named, said: “It was flying along and just dropped out of the sky, dead. It was properly dead.

“We saw three on that day, two in the morning and one that fell out the sky in the afternoon.

“On Tuesday on my way to work on the promenade there was another two on the floor. In total I have seen five dead in the last week.

“There is no signage on the beach from the council to warn tourists not to touch them as there is probably something wrong.”

The sudden death has prompted concern.  Brighton and Hove City Council are putting up signs warning tourists not to touch them.

The dead gull spotted on Brighton seafront on Saturday

The council told The Argus yesterday that it is putting 150 signs up around the city, including 25 on the seafront, in the “coming days” to warn people about Avian flu.

Anne Ackford, CEO of The Brighton Pier Group, said the matter of signage was a “council issue” but “if it is a hazard then some advisory signage would be useful” in the area.

Herring gulls are on the Birds of Conservation Concern 4 (BoCC 4) red list, while nine other species of gull are on the amber list

There has been multiple reports a day on wildlife rescue Facebook groups for the area.

Mike Hollingbery said: “I have just discovered this poor gull while working on a roof, he wasn’t there yesterday. I haven’t been really close but I have nudged him with a broom and he isn’t moving. Sadly I think he has passed.”

Some of the first bird flu concerns came at Brighton Marina in June

Daniel Oaks pictured another gull splayed out near the Palace Pier. He said there was “no obvious sign of trauma” and a council worker had come to take it away.

Fiona Jamie snapped a picture of a gull in The Drive, Hove, collapsed on the floor.

She said: “This poor bird looks like another flu victim”.

The council states on its website: “The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said that bird flu is primarily a disease of birds and the risk to the general public’s health is very low. 

“However, do not touch or pick up any dead or visibly sick birds that you find and keep dogs on a lead. 

“Anyone who has been in direct touching contact with visibly sick or dead birds should wash their hands immediately.”

When avian influenza is confirmed or suspected in poultry or other captive birds, disease control zones are put in place around the infected premises to prevent the spread of the disease.

Within these zones, a range of restrictions on the movement of poultry and material associated with their keeping can apply.

This week two disease control zones were set up around Bexhill and Hastings due to outbreaks of the illness which saw a number of birds humanely culled.

A Defra spokesman said: “The current avian influenza outbreak is devastating for wild bird populations, but there are limited effective actions that can be taken to protect wild birds, as opposed to captive bird flocks.

“Defra together with APHA and Natural England are working closely with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and other NGOs including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to monitor the effect of avian influenza on wild birds species of conservation concern.”