A sparrow stuck down a drain caused quite a stir in Albion Lane and also online on last week.
The sparrow's plight was first noticed by Queen's High School pupil Poppy Cairns (15) and two friends as they walked down the lane shortly after 3pm.
The girls got a big surprise as they walked over a manhole cover and spotted a small, brown, feathery head appear through a hole in the cover. The trio drew the attention of passers-by and soon a crowd had gathered intent on saving the trapped bird.
One member of the public said it was not clear how the sparrow ended up in the drain, although there were many theories. Some guessed it had flown down a drainpipe from a nearby building and ended up underground.
About 30 people gathered to help the sparrow at different points in the afternoon.
The Star understands there were initially two birds in the drain. A member of the public was apparently able to pull one of the birds out through a hole and set it free but the other proved too large to fit.
Passers-by used crowbars in an attempt to pry the manhole cover loose but this did not work.
Although the sparrow was trapped it did not go hungry, as members of the public fed it chips and other food.
After exhausting other efforts the crowd decided official help was needed and called in the SPCA, Dunedin City Council and Fulton Hogan.
The avian drama was soon taken online with watchers using their phones to tweet using the hashtags #freebird and #savethesparrow.
Twitter user James Meager tweeted ''Hour two of the Albion Lane sparrow down the drain rescue. Where is the @DnCityCouncil? #savethesparrow.''
City councillor Aaron Hawkins even joined the twittering chorus.
The Dunedin SPCA was the first official respondent on the scene but could not budge the cover.
Shortly after 5pm the hero of the day, Dave from CityCare, arrived and with the right tools he was able to open the manhole quickly.
The grand opening was something of an anti-climax. Instead of fluttering to freedom, the sparrow remained in the drain for about 10 minutes before finally taking flight.
