Baby birds' lucky escape as chainsaw misses their nest by just 1cm
Watch report by Derek Johnson
A nest of 5 baby birds were lucky to escape alive after a tree surgeon cut their tree down with a chain saw which missed their heads by about 1cm.
The blue tits had been nesting inside a tree trunk at a property in Sedlescombe near Hastings.
A tree surgeon had checked for birds nests, but had no idea that there was a nest inside the tree trunk.
As soon as they discovered the baby birds East Sussex Wildlife Rescue was called.
Rescuer Hev Clarke said, “We were amazed at how close the saw blades must have come to the youngsters.
"Sadly there were signs that one may have perished but the five in the nest were extremely lucky and very narrowly missed the saw.
"If they had raised their heads up or the saw had be placed just 1cm lower they would all have been killed."
The nest of five were taken to the Casualty Centre at Whitesmith in the middle of East Sussex and transferred into one of WRAS’s incubators in the charities newly expanded Orphan Rearing Unit.
The birds will now be hand reared by WRAS’s Care Team staff and Orphan Rearing volunteers being fed every 15 minutes from 7am till 10pm.
WRAS founder Trevor Weeks said, “This is a timely reminder that at this time of year birds are nesting everywhere.
"It really isn’t a good time of year to be cutting down trees or removing bushes although we appreciate that when there is a danger of a tree falling or is diseased then more urgent action is sometimes needed.
"It is essential that trees and bushes are checked thoroughly and not to forget that holes in tree trunks are often used by not just woodpeckers but other smaller birds like blue tits and robins”.