Gull rescue at Eastbourne railway station, and an unusual visitor from Dubai

Two rescuers from our hospital attended on site after reports of a gull trapped on the roof overhanging platform one.

After assessing the situation it was soon apparent that the fire brigade would be required to reach the bird.

A crew from Eastbourne Fire Station attended and were prepared to attempt a rescue but were stopped by station staff as Network Rail would not allow an attempt to made.

Rescuers pleaded but to no avail. Network Rail wouldn’t budge. Not giving up, a call was made to Sussex Police who sent us back to Network Rail.

Getting nowhere, WRAS joined forces with Seahaven Wildlife Rescue to get some support and be heard.

Both charities began bombarding Network Rail with call after call.

Eventually after the rescuers made it clear they would not be leaving without the gull, a manager attended and agreed to shut down the power.

As a result East Sussex Fire and Rescue very kindly agreed to attend again and just after 1am power was switched off and firefighters freed the gull.

Very dehydrated, underweight and a wound to its wing, it has been taken home with one of the rescues for the night for treatment and close monitoring.

A huge thank you to Seahaven WR, ESFRS, Sussex Police, the staff at the station who helped us and our rescuers.

A beautiful pigeon went back home to Eastbourne this week after recovering from being shot through his wing and leg, breaking both.

It took a while for him to properly weight bear again, and his wing was still dropped slightly, but he was able to fly well.

He looked fabulous when we test flew him so was sent home along with a dove from Wilmington who suffered a window strike and a very swollen head and eye as a result.

Last week WRAS has an unusual visitor.

A suspected rough tailed bowfoot gecko came into care after travelling all the way from Dubai on a cargo ship.

As an un-native wild species, this creature has very different ecological needs than what the UK wilderness can provide.

This is not something we would normally take in or rescue and we have now found him a home.

A sparrowhawk has also been admitted from Berwick

Believed to have flown into a church window at Berwick village church, she has suffered a double break of both her radius and ulna.

Efforts have been made to splint the fractures but only time will tell with this one.

A suspected catted magpie has been admitted too.

Found grounded in the callers garden, the corvid initially gave rescuers the run around still having the ability to fly up onto a 6ft fence.

But after finally dropping down behind a small tree, rescuers armed with nets were able to cover each exit, forcing the bird to fly into the net and become caught.

Back at the centre, he was fully assessed and had his wounds on his back and chest cleaned and treated.

He also had a high internal parasite burden. He was bedded down with a hearty meal.