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On Friday evening, in the late afternoon, crowds gathered from all around to see what was happening at the lake- why were there 5 fire engines and countless firemen preparing a dinghy?
Local resident Lizzie Huckle tells us more about what happened that day:
“My daughter and I were doing our usual afternoon walk round the common after work and school when suddenly 5 fire engines turned up on Dr Johnson Avenue. Of course we wondered what on earth may have happened so followed the fireman as they headed onto the common and over to the lake. Two parks police also arrived. When I asked what was happening they explained a gull was trapped in some wire over near the island. The RSPCA arrived and there were discussions about how best to rescue it. Two of the fire engines then backed up to the pond and we watched as they mobilised the dinghy rescue squad.
She added: “A crowd was forming by this time, socially distanced as much of possible of course! We waited as two of the crew rowed across the lake and cut the bird free and got in into the animal carrier so it could be checked over by the RSPCA. As they brought it back over the Lake the crowd cheered and clapped them in! Bird saved, fire men got to blow up their dinghies and the locked-down locals got a bit of excitement on their daily constitutional!”
By all accounts, this was a very eventful Friday on the Common, but it has left some locals with mixed feelings about the event. Some wonder why such a big response was needed for just one gull, others worried about the crowds in this pandemic. It has been speculated that this could have been used as a great training opportunity for the firemen, and would explain the seemingly over-the-top response.
Nevertheless, as Lizzie so wonderfully put, “It was great to see the community pulling together and having an hour together saving one beautiful little bird!”
In fact, all Gulls species are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This means that it is illegal to injure or kill any gull or damage/remove any gull nests. There have been several instances similar to this over the UK, where gulls trapped in wire or fishing nets have been rescued by firemen.
The main thing that we can do as a community to ensure this does not happen again, is to dispose of our waste properly. Plastic and wire in particular can be really damaging to our wildlife if they come into contact with it and they can get easily entangled. It is really important that we dispose of these materials as far away from nature as possible.
One great tip, as we come into warmer weather, is to cut the plastic 6-pack-rings that hold together beer cans, so that the circles cannot ensnarl any wildlife.
Thank you Lizzie for your story and image for this nature note!
If you would like to find out a bit more about Urban Gulls and the Law, please see this link below, where some information in this article was extracted from: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/animal-deterrents/gulls/urban-gulls-and-the-law/#:~:text=All%20species%20of%20gull%20are,active%20nest%20or%20its%20contents.