Odin the baby raven rescued by coastguards

Coastguards have scaled the cliffs of the Calf of Man to rescue a baby raven which was trapped in hay twine for several days.

Members of the Bird Observatory on the remote island contacted the Port Erin Coastguards after growing concerned about the six-week-old bird which had appeared to be caught on something.

Kate Fox, Estate Warden on the Calf of Man said the team had regularly been in contact with Port Erin Coastguards and asked if they could save the chick as a training exercise.

Two members of the coastguard team lowered themselves down the cliffs she said, "and the casualty in this case was the raven", affectionately called Odin, which was cut from the twine.

"This raven was stuck in really knotted baler twine, which the parents had collected and built their nest out of, so it is just a reminder of the impact humans can have", she said.

"If we hadn't intervened there is no way that raven would have gotten off of its nest... we were even struggling to get the twine off with scissors".

Luckily, one of the coastguards was experienced with ringing birds, and was "happy to cut the raven free, which most people would be afraid of", she said.

After lowering themselves to the bottom of the cliff face , the chick was checked over and although "a bit skinny", it was healthy, she said.

As it was due to rain heavily that night, Odin was given food, water and shelter at the observatory.

The next day, the team returned Odin to near its nest, and while the raven was "a little bit wobbly given it had never been on solid ground or flown before, it did take a tentative first flight for a few metres which is really good", she said.

"Hopefully we have given it the best chance for survival", she said.

Speaking of the coastguards, she said: "We don't want to take them away from saving lives, but it worked out it was beneficial for them to come and rescue the raven for training".

Ravens were a species with a declining population in the area and there were two breeding pairs on the Calf of Man, meaning members of the public could not disturb their nests.

The team of four on the Calf of Man held a license to be able to intervene with the species when necessary.

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