Gull was Minutes from Being Washed Away by the Thames

This afternoon we attended to this waterlogged gull on the foreshore of the Thames with suspected botulism. With the tide rapidly coming in we had no time to loose - he was in danger of being washed away at any minute.

It was a bit of a struggle as only one of our telescopic nets would reach him and scooping him up with one net was proving difficult, we just couldn’t get him actually inside the net. It was starting to look like I’d have to jump down onto the foreshore which would have been very risky, when finally, we managed it. Just minutes after the gull was rescued, the muddy beach where he was laying was completely covered in water - if we’d been a few minutes later, he’d have been lost in the Thames.

He’s been cleaned up and warmed up, and placed with a foster carer so as to keep him isolated from other birds.