Today, part of the North Holland beach was littered with sick, but especially dead razorbills and guillemots. Strandvonder (beachcomber, ed.) Marco Snijders made the grisly discovery. “It is of course strange that there are so many birds.”
A dead bird on the beach is a piece of cake for Egmonder Marco Snijders. But dozens of dead or almost dead razorbills and guillemots on the beach between Heemskerk and Camperduin: even the tried and tested beachcomber was surprised.
“We have cleared fifty,” Snijders tells NH, “and this is only half.” He reported the dead animals to ‘all authorities’. “Normally we are in contact with Naturalis (research institute, ed.) when something like this happens, because it is of course strange that there are so many birds.”
Also in Pieterburen
Because there are much more than just the birds in our province, says Snijders. From his colleagues in Pieterburen he also heard stories about dead birds on the beach. “There are different opinions about it: from bird flu to starvation. But there is only one person who can confirm that, and that is a doctor.”
A manager of the Bird Hospital on the Vergierdeweg in Haarlem previously informed NH that there are indeed many reports of sick birds and that in any case there is no bird flu.
Not all razorbills and coots were dead, a few of the birds found were still alive. Snijders handed it over to the animal ambulance. “I hope they can patch up the birds, they were in bad shape, so that remains to be seen.”
Yet another affected species
It is certainly not the first time that the beach explorer has come across a large number of deceased birds on the beach. “We have been experiencing it more often in recent years. Gannets, seagulls, cormorants, but also starlings. In the case of the latter, research by Naturalis showed that the starlings had been hit by a thunderstorm.”
Do you find a weakened bird (on the beach)? Then call the animal ambulance or a bird hospital in your area.
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