Fall of Icarus: Bird-flu?

 

All of a sudden, it fell from the sky. On New Year’s day, mom and I were chatting, sitting in a sunroom of our house. Then, suddenly, a tiny bird came down from the heaven. “Oh, my …” I went out and found it was a warbling white eye. It was difficult to mistake its bright-green body. I poked it a bit with a garden tong. No motion. Its eyes are empty in a small white circle. It was dead.

A young grey heron in Niiharu Citizen Forest.
Hey, you eat a lot and stay well, won‘t you?

I asked my forest instructor senior who worked for Tokyo Metropolitan Government, specialized for dealing with such matters. She said each municipality should have an office to deal with animal death with suspicious cause. This time, it might be by bird-flu. But she pointed out it was not frequent for small birds dying with the pandemic. So, we first have to check that office then to inquire bureau of public cleaning how to deal with the matter, she advised me. For Kanagawa Prefecture, the first port of call was

Natural Environment Conservation Division 神奈川県自然環境保全課 

Phone 045-210-1111 (main switchboard number)

Narathura japonica

I telephoned that number and asked the personnel what to do. She said warbling white eye was not on the list for checking bird-flu so I could call the city office for dealing with the dead body. I next called Yokohama’s Resources and Waste Recycling Bureau. … er, its contact phone number differs from Ward to Ward so that I called the number for an office where I live. When you have a body of dead animal in Yokohama, a dead wild bird or your beloved pooch, it does not matter, please ask the way to deal with it to the Ward Office or the local office of Recycling Bureau of your neighborhood. The list of Recycling Bureau‘s contact address can be found here … The other end of the telephone line instructed me to pack the poor bird in a plastic bag and leave it in front of our house, with a memo indicating to the contracted waste disposal company that the content was what I asked the city to deal with. I did just that, and the person from that firm came to pick it up. The funeral for a warbling white eye was completed. Sad.

As of January 8th, Kanagawa Prefecture has not yet suffered an outbreak of bird-flu. Though, in another prefectures, it ravaged lives of poultry farmers (; the latest can be found from the HP of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries). Have you noticed skyrocketing price of eggs in Japan? Several years back, I met a veteran birdwatcher on the shore of Sagami River 相模川. She said when bird-flu was rife, the number of birds came to an observation spot drastically became smaller … I hope we do not have such things this year … My dad said a warbling white eye was a regular for our family’s garden. But since that incident, he has not met one. It’s really sad.

When you find a similar situation,
NEVER touch it barehanded
as it may carry deadly viruses.
Do you remember the beginning of COVID-19?

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North
北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau
横浜市環境創造局
Phone: 045-311-2016 

FAX: 045-316-8420