Peregrine rescued from skyscraper roof garden

A peregrine falcon has been rescued after getting stuck on the 75th floor of a London skyscraper.

South Essex Wildlife Hospital was called to a residential building in Canary Wharf, London, to retrieve the female bird, which was found "smashing itself against the glass" after flying into a roof garden on Sunday.

Once the falcon had been caught in a towel, it was rushed back to the Orsett-based hospital, where it was examined and had an X-ray.

Sue Schwar, the hospital's founder, said: "We've put her in our big flight aviary. She does need a bit of time. She's not 100%, but as soon as she's ready we've absolutely definitely got to get her back up into the sky."

She added that the hospital gets a lot of calls related to incidents involving peregrine falcons in London, and there are a lot in the area because they tend to nest high up.

Speaking to Ben Fryer on BBC Essex, Schwar said: "We had a call from the concierge. He was quite worried as he couldn't find any help anywhere... he sent me some photos, and it was a peregrine falcon smashing itself against the glass."

Vet Tom Linsel said once the bird was confined, it needed assessing, while making sure not to harm the animal.

Apart from some blood on the bird's wing, the hospital said there were "no major worries".

Schwar said: "We've X-rayed her, she looks absolutely fine. The worry was concussion as she really was smashing herself against the glass. She's doing OK now and there's no indication of a nest or a mate."

Once the falcon has fully recovered, it will be returned to London and released.

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