‘We expected it, but now it’s here’: on the frontline of Australia’s bird flu outbreak, people are distressed

As Australia prepares for the H5 bird flu to potentially rip through hundreds of species, residents of the Limestone Coast are already seeing the impacts Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast It has only been three weeks since H5 bird flu was detected on South Australia’s Limestone Coast and already encounters with sick or dead birds are becoming commonplace. Maureen Christie, who lives in the seaside town of Carpenter Rocks, has been observing and protecting birds in the region for decades. She is now witnessing many stricken and suffering. “It’s just awful,” Christie said, who helped establish the Friends of Shorebirds SE more than 20 years ago. “We expected it but, now it’s here, it’s just traumatic.” The state’s south-east is renowned for its bird life, she said, which includes resident hooded plovers and oyster catchers, along with fly-ins from other countries, such as double-banded plovers, red-necked stints, sanderlings and ruddy turnstones. Locals have been following state government advice to “avoid, record and report”, she said. Christie said many people have been getting in