Plastic pollution affects mere as birds use rubbish for nest

With plastic pollution in our oceans currently a hot topic, it is also affecting wildlife a little closer to home.

A pair of coots have built a nest which includes rubbish. Picture: Rebecca Murphy - Credit: Archant

A pair of coots have built their nest on the edge of Diss Mere which includes a Cornish pasty wrapper, plastic and some cardboard.

They appear to have raised three young ones from the nest.

'You would think it was a disused nest by the look of it,' said Celia Bradley, who along with her friend Gail Scott, noticed the rubbish in the nest as they enjoyed a drink at the Diss Publishing Bookshop.

'After seeing that whale [which died in Thailand with 80 plastic bags found in its stomach], even things in local ponds and meres are being affected, it is not just the ocean, it is everywhere.

A pair of coots have built a nest at Diss Mere which includes rubbish. Picture: Rebecca Murphy - Credit: Archant

'The big coot keeps pecking at the plastic. You don't know if they are going to get tangled up in it.'

A prized and much-loved asset of the town, there are plenty of rubbish bins on the Mere's walkway.