They may be the biggest bird of prey in Australia, but one wedge-tailed eagle found itself in a sticky situation on Monday, after one of its claws got trapped under wire on top of a power pole at Mount View, near Cessnock.
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A quick-thinking member of the public called Ausgrid, which maintains the poles and wires, to help get the eagle down.
Brian Lindsay, who has worked on the electricity network for 28 years, was sent to investigate and said it was a unique call.
“I've rescued bats and possums from wires, but this was the first time I'd seen an eagle on one of our powerlines,” he said.
Mr Lindsay approached the bird carefully and used an insulated pole to carefully free its claw.
The delicate operation took about 20 minutes as he worked to ensure the bird wasn't hurt.
When it was freed, the eagle did a few laps around Mr Lindsay before flying away.
“It was a beautiful moment. It was great to see such a beautiful creature and to see it soar away like that,” he said.
The wedge-tailed eagle can soar up to 2000 metres into the air and this one is back where it belongs, thanks to Ausgrid and the customer who reported it.