‘Tears were rolling down my face’: readers describe ‘heartbreaking’ impact of bird flu

From the Scottish Highlands to the Cornish coast, Guardian readers have witnessed the ravages of the disease on wild species

The world is experiencing its worst ever outbreak of avian flu in wild birds, with thousands dead and dying along coastlines, in gardens and cities. These Guardian readers from the UK were among those who got in touch to tell us about what they have witnessed:

Retiree Allan Davidson said that by midsummer in 2022 miles of beautiful beaches near his home in Golspie, Sutherland, in the Scottish Highlands, were littered with dead seabirds, mainly guillemots and gannets. Most died out at sea and had been swept in to shore. Some would simply stand, comatose, oblivious to my presence. I would find them lifeless the next morning in the same spot I left them," he says. What struck me was that the vast majority of the dead birds I encountered had been fine, healthy creatures in excellent condition. They were not emaciated or undernourished.