<div dir="ltr"><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(254,254,254)"><font face="arial, sans-serif" style="">From WDFW statement:</font></p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(254,254,254)"><font face="arial, sans-serif" style="">"Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) biologists recently responded to reports of sick or dead waterfowl in western Skagit County on and around Skagit Bay, as well as in northwestern Snohomish County and on Camano Island and Port Susan in Island County.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(254,254,254)"><font face="arial, sans-serif">WDFW has retrieved more than 700 deceased birds of several species—primarily juvenile snow geese—from this area. Samples have been taken from these birds for testing for <a href="https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/diseases/bird-flu" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(24,69,154)">avian influenza</a> (also known as bird flu), with H5N1 strain Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) suspected.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(254,254,254)"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:700;line-height:inherit">WDFW continues to ask members of the public who find sick or dead birds to </span><a class="external-link" href="https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/a384e90f69744f2e846135a9ce80027f" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(24,69,154)"><span style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:700;line-height:inherit">report them immediately using this online form</span></a><span style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:700;line-height:inherit"> and not touch them</span><span style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:700;line-height:inherit">. </span>As resources are available,<span style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:700;line-height:inherit"> </span>biologists may respond to remove bird carcasses and, if in an area or species where avian influenza has not been confirmed, test for the virus. Due to the magnitude of this outbreak, WDFW staff will not be able to respond to all reported cases."</font></p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(254,254,254)">----</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(254,254,254)"><b>Read the full statement from WDFW here:</b></p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(254,254,254)"><a href="https://wdfw.wa.gov/newsroom/wdfw-statement/wdfw-statement-avian-influenza-outbreak-among-waterfowl-around-skagit-bay">https://wdfw.wa.gov/newsroom/wdfw-statement/wdfw-statement-avian-influenza-outbreak-among-waterfowl-around-skagit-bay</a><br></p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;line-height:1.6;background-color:rgb(254,254,254)"><br></p><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-spacing:0px;border-collapse:collapse;color:rgb(68,68,68);width:480px;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" style="padding:10px 0px 12px;width:160px;vertical-align:top"><a href="https://www.pilchuckaudubon.org/" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(51,122,183)" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Logo" width="141" style="border:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:141px;height:auto" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4zOxfk9hYO4GJMGcsjboO56KVrF6SygPtX2cLPk-YreK7HW_dLgJ4CGLbkU0qR0xw2IudpaJU0"></a></td><td style="padding:6px 0px;width:320px"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-spacing:0px;border-collapse:collapse;background-color:transparent"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:0px;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(61,60,63)"><span>Brian Zinke</span></td></tr><tr><td style="padding:0px 0px 11px;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(61,60,63)"><span>Executive Director</span></td></tr><tr><td style="padding:0px;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(155,155,155)"><span style="color:rgb(61,60,63)">phone: (425) 232-6811</span></td></tr><tr><td style="padding:0px;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(155,155,155)"><span style="color:rgb(61,60,63)">email: </span><span style="color:rgb(23,147,210)"><a href="mailto:director@pilchuckaudubon.org" target="_blank">director@pilchuckaudubon.org</a></span></td></tr><tr><td style="padding:0px;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(155,155,155)"><span style="color:rgb(61,60,63)">Pilchuck Audubon Society</span></td></tr><tr><td style="padding:0px;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(155,155,155)"><span style="color:rgb(61,60,63)">1429 Avenue D, PMB 198, Snohomish, WA 98290</span></td></tr><tr><td style="padding:6px 0px 0px"><span style="display:inline-block;height:22px"><span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pilchuckaudubon" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(51,122,183)" target="_blank"><img alt="Facebook icon" border="0" width="23" height="23" src="https://codetwocdn.azureedge.net/images/mail-signatures/generator/elegant-logo/fb.png" style="border:0px;vertical-align:middle;height:20px;width:20px"></a>  </span><span><a href="https://twitter.com/PilchuckAudubon" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(51,122,183)" target="_blank"><img alt="Twitter icon" border="0" width="23" height="23" src="https://codetwocdn.azureedge.net/images/mail-signatures/generator/elegant-logo/tt.png" style="border:0px;vertical-align:middle;height:20px;width:20px"></a>  </span><span><a href="https://instagram.com/pilchuckaudubon" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(51,122,183)" target="_blank"><img alt="Instagram icon" border="0" width="23" height="23" src="https://codetwocdn.azureedge.net/images/mail-signatures/generator/elegant-logo/it.png" style="border:0px;vertical-align:middle;height:20px;width:20px"></a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-spacing:0px;border-collapse:collapse;color:rgb(68,68,68);width:480px;font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;line-height:normal"><tbody></tbody></table></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>