Warden on wheels

WITH the recent outbreak of Avian Flu on the Avon in Stratford a method was required to get to the swans quickly.

This has been solved by providing swan rescuer Cyril Bennis with a brightly coloured orange bike so he can get to poorly or injured birds quickly, Roger Fox reports.

Volunteering every day

The outbreak at Stratford decimated the swans with 60 dying of the disease, and Cyril volunteering every day for over a month to recover the corpses on his own bicycle, which were then collected by Defra for testing.

But now he has been presented with a new bicycle, donated by Pashley Cycles of Stratford, that will be fitted with a trailer to carry  the swans instead of doing it on the handlebars of his own bicycle.

At the moment the outbreak has slackened but Cyril will be better prepared should it suddenly reoccur.

Not to feed

The public have been warned not to feed either the swans or ducks with bread as it can cause dietary problems, and is no substitute for the proper diet that the birds themselves will seek out.