THE ST ANDREWS University researcher who discovered the dead mute swan, which was confirmed as carrying the potentially deadly H5N1 avian flu virus has described how he was alerted by a friend, who said he thought a heron was lying in the harbour, writes Gordon Berry.

Dan Young, whose work includes aspects of virology, said, “I went and had a look and it was obviously not a heron. It looked to me like a swan.

“I contacted DEFRA and within an hour the duty vet got back to me asking where it was and saying they would pick it up.”

“It had obviously been dead for a while, a few days probably. It had obviously been pecked at or eaten by something. It was torn open.”

Mr Young said he had not touched the bird but admitted he had “a bit of anxiety” about the discovery.

Tina Briscoe, another resident, who contacted police after spotting the dead bird, said she was told to contact an animal welfare charity.

“They said if it was a heron it would be all right, as it might have died of natural causes, but if it was a swan it needed to be reported to DEFRA or a local vet,” Mrs Briscoe said.

The St Andrews University technician said the dead bird looked brown and “pretty mangled,” and she expressed concern at the length of time taken to remove the creature from the harbour slipway. “It was reported in the evening to DEFRA and they collected the bird around lunchtime, about 12.30 or so, the following day.

“I would have expected a quicker reaction, particularly because in the tidal water it could have been washed away, or cats could have picked on it,” she said.

Richard Ingram and Aileen Bracken, whose house overlooks the harbour, said they were anxious for more information.

University lecturer Mr Ingram said the beach was “effectively our front garden,” and that their three children had been playing in the area since the swan was removed.

“Somebody local saw it and took the precaution of putting up a makeshift notice to say not to touch the bird until it was taken away,” he said.

“In the week since we haven’t thought anything about it until last night when we heard about the bird flu scare on the 10 o’clock news.”

Ms Bracken, a 35-year-old psychologist, said she had seen the dead bird from her home but from that distance had not realised it was a swan.

“We were sitting watching the TV yesterday, hearing about restriction zones. We are not alarmed or panicking but we are concerned and we would like more information, to know the implications for us.”