Mid-June, two cases of H5N1 avian flu were found on the remote beach/es (??) near Wellington. A few weeks later, there were lots of talks in Facebook groups about everybody ceasing garden bird baths, water/nectar or seed/fruit feeding. I checked the Dept of Conservation and Forest and Bird websites, but neither listed anything about home gardens, only about when and how to report sick or dead birds.
There have been cuts to the environmental agencies by the current government, but more to the point, it reminded me of the early days of Covid when so much was unknown. I learned some endangered birds in New Zealand have been immunized, while certain species were less prone to catch the flu as they don't congregate.
We arbitrarily decided we'll quit when a third case was found, as we knew in Australia the spread was quicker and greater, in which case it was a matter of time we found more.
A third case was discovered a fortnight ago, again in Wairarapa, so I checked the websites again; Forest and Bird website is defunct for all intents and purposes, but Dept of Conservation had added "Avoid feeding backyard birds".
So, there we have it. Both Nectar and seeds ceased a week and a big ago, we hope temporarily but we get it's going to be a long one.
I'm already worried about water for the summer as we expect a hot one with not a lot of rain, and we usually had three water stations for birds and bees.
We will miss watching tuis the most.
