Injured falcon’s flight to freedom (From Warrington Guardian)

Injured falcon’s flight to freedom

11:00am Friday 29th June 2012 in News

A TEAM effort has helped get one of Britain’s rarest birds back into the sky.

The RSPCA, Avian Veterinary Services (AVS) in Knutsford and the British Falconers Club joined forces after a peregrine falcon was shot over Warrington leaving him with a broken wing.

The juvenile bird was found in a field near Gateworth industrial estate in February and was immediately taken to specialist AVS vet Richard Jones.

The vet covered the £500 cost of the bird’s treatment and after repeatedly dressing the wounds saw the falcon’s bone heal within four weeks.

He regained full fitness in a large flight aviary in Yorkshire and thanks to donated moulted feathers to repair the peregrine’s flight feathers, he was deemed fit for release in May at the site he was found.

Mr Jones said: “Careful consideration was given to whether releasing him at the place he was shot was the right thing to do but he had obviously been thriving in the area and we hoped being able to monitor him closely would hopefully prevent a recurrence.

“It was amazing and quite emotional to see him power into the wind, land briefly on top of a pylon to survey his territory, then head off in the direction of Daresbury.

“He seemed to know exactly where he was heading.”

A tracking device found the peregrine had been flying between Warrington and Daresbury and over Moore Nature Reserve in his first week of freedom.

The team hopes gping public with the lucky falcon’s story will make gunmen aware the birds are being monitored and prevent ‘such a cruel act’ from happening again.

Anthony Joynes, RSPCA inspector, said: “This was a serious incident and it is a serious criminal offence to kill, injure or take any wild bird punishable by six months’ imprisonment.”