I get very little feedback on my views about Poultry Flu (or “Bird Flu” as people will insist on calling it).

I don’t know whether anyone agrees with my assertions that people across Europe and Asia are now so far removed from wildlife that they view birds with suspicion and fear rather than affection and care, that most people (including those in ‘authority’) know so little about even the basics of bird ID and avian biology that sooner or later the dam will burst and all Hell will rain down on Asia’s and Europe’s beleaguered birds - but I’m certain I’m right, and more proof comes from the Bulgarian Sofia News Agency which posted the following story on 12 January 2006 at http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=57690:

Dead Bird Found in Sofia Center:

Civil Defence authorities have collected a dead bird from an intersection in Sofia downtown, SNA reporters witnessed.

The small bird was at the crossing of the Lege and Saborna streets, right across the archeological museum and an expensive shoe store. Its breast feathers were colored in green, and its back in dark colors. It was about the size of a sparrow.

The pickup party was dressed in protective gear and carried a special basket. They sprinkled the site with disinfectants.

Preliminary doubts that the body might have been that of a canary or a starling have not been confirmed yet.

There are suspicions that the bird has died of freezing. It is still unconfirmed whether the bird is of a migratory species. [It is of course a Great Tit Parus major - a very common, non-migratory passerine species that often succumbs to cold weather - overnight temperatures in Sofia on the night were expected to hit a low of 12° F / -11° C].

Amid bird flu fears rising in Bulgaria, the tension is building at the sight of such incidents.

None of the local authorities contacted so far have been notified of the dead bird’s pickup.”