Beautiful sea bird stranded far from home in Shropshire yard
This beautiful black sea bird was found stranded in Shropshire and is being fed so he can return home.
The common scoter, which normally favours lochs in Scotland or off the Welsh and Norfolk coasts, turned up in a works yard in the SY4 postcode near Shrewsbury.
He was rescued and taken to the Cuan Wildlife Rescue centre near Much Wenlock, where he is being looked after ahead of being released this weekend.
A spokesperson for the centre said that the bird was uninjured but low in weight. He is being fed molluscs and fish.
The RSPB website says: "In the breeding season the common scoter favours small lochs in north and west Scotland, especially the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland. In winter it is found off the UK coast with concentrations in Carmarthen and Cardigan Bays, along the Moray Firth and along the north Norfolk coast.
"The UK breeding population of this small diving seaduck has substantially declined and it is now a Red List species. It's listed as a Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Its winter populations are vulnerable to oil spills."