Feisty swan’s road adventure ends in dramatic rescue

By George Somper via SWNS

Animal welfare officers carried out a Hot Fuzz-style rescue - after a mute swan crash-landed on a busy A road.

The "disorientated" bird was spotted on the A48 near Chepstow on Wednesday (July 24) and RSPCA workers were called.

Sian Burton was soon on the scene and caught the young bird, who she described as "feisty" and uninjured, before releasing him.

She said: “The disorientated swan had been in the middle of the road in oncoming traffic, but when I arrived luckily the swan had moved to the hard shoulder.

“We think that as a juvenile swan, he may have been moved on from where he was by other swans and then become lost and crash landed onto the A48.

“Thankfully the police were on the scene and had lane closure in place.”

As well as the dangers of being blown off course in stormy weather or being injured by fishing litter, water birds such as swans and geese can sometimes confuse roads or car parks for rivers or lakes while flying overhead and can then come in to land on a hard surface, which can cause injury, the RSPCA said.

In the past, officers across England and Wales have been called to rescue swans who have crash-landed at pubs, churches, train stations, car dealerships and even a COVID-19 testing center.

Sian found a place on the water away from other birds - and away from roads - near Caldicot Castle to release the swan .

“I was very pleased to see him happily swim off and he’ll be free to return to where he came from - hopefully away from busy roads in future,” she said.

“The swan has pink feathers which suggests he has pink feathers syndrome. This is caused by fungus that can spread in the water from bread being fed to waterfowl.

“Hopefully he’ll be eating a natural diet from now on, and we urge members of the public to ensure they feed waterfowl and other wild birds nutritious food.”

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