Christmas 2017 – Pymmes Park and River Lea

Over the Christmas period we have been dealing with oil and diesel dumped into Pymmes Park in East London, this has affected the waterfowl in the park and has made its way into the River Lea via the watercourse. Two swans have been found dead so far. In conjunction with colleagues from Swan Support in Wraysbury we have rescued swans and geese for cleaning. Unfortunately the smaller waterfowl are not so easy to catch and many will have succumbed to hypothermia as they cannot keep warm with oiled plumage. Sadly this is a common occurrence in that area and we have had to rescue birds from there on many occasions in the past. The Friends of Pymmes Park continue to try to get Thames Water and the Environment Agency to take these incidents seriously.

Oiled birds awaiting cleaning

Drying under the heat lamps