As Strix pointed out yesterday a bird of prey was lost during the Sheffield Fayre yesterday. If you spot this bird please ring the number below and inform Alan (the owner).
If he can get to the vacinity of the bird he can use it's tracker to pin point it's location.

Alan: 07971193732

Pictures of identical bird:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v502/Vidster/Lost.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v502/Vidster/2.jpg

What are we looking at here?

Is it a Peregrine Falcon?

Will it have 'jessies' attached?

I 'think' it's a Harris Hawk (http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/priors/harris.shtml).

No idea about the tethers. I noticed one of the tracking devices on another bird today and it looked like a large ball bearing (attatched to the top of the tail)

Was the bloke at the show the owner? Every time I saw him handling the birds he had a fag in his gob. It can't be very good for such wonderful animals, I would have thought he would be more responsible, the bird probably thought better of coming back.

I think your talking about the shorter bloke that was helping. The owner was the big bloke with the birth mark on his face.

Either way the bird needs finding. He told me someone came with a photo of the bird taken with her mobile phone but she wouldn't give him her address.

Why show him the photo then? Stupid woman :?

Well I hope the bird is OK. Just think if people are going to keep these animals then they should look after them properly or they should not be allowed to look after them at all.

Why (oh why) didn't the bird have a radio beacon? This is pretty much standard equipment for hawking. It's a young bird too - still has its adolescent plumage.

Will obviously keep a lookout, but unless they are 3ft away, they are unlikely to be identified.

Poor bird. Stupid woman indeed.

Phan, It does have a radio tracker, and the bird in the pic is the younger one which hasn't gone missing :suspect:

What actually happened was the bird dived for the bait which was tied to a lead, but it sucessfully removed said bait from it's tether, which isn't supposed to happen.

It retreated to the trees to devour it's spoils and clouds of wild birds could later be seen exiting the scene as if the devil himself were chasing them :(

Originally posted by Strix
Phan, It does have a radio tracker, and the bird in the pic is the younger one which hasn't gone missing :suspect:

What actually happened was the bird dived for the bait which was tied to a lead, but it sucessfully removed said bait from it's tether, which isn't supposed to happen.

It retreated to the trees to devour it's spoils and clouds of wild birds could later be seen exiting the scene as if the devil himself were chasing them :(

I guess the battery died some time ago then.... Well. I will keep my eyes peeled tomorrow, leave some day old chicks out on the lawn maybe.

I really want one of these birds myself, have been looking into it for some years now.

Originally posted by Strix
Phan, It does have a radio tracker, and the bird in the pic is the younger one which hasn't gone missing :suspect:

What actually happened was the bird dived for the bait which was tied to a lead, but it sucessfully removed said bait from it's tether, which isn't supposed to happen.

It retreated to the trees to devour it's spoils and clouds of wild birds could later be seen exiting the scene as if the devil himself were chasing them :(

I didn't know that Strix. Your never going to believe me but when i took my dog for a walk last night i heard a real kerfuffle in the woods and a Raven (i think. It was dark) came flying out in a right old panic. I just thought a Fox had managed to get to it :?

I might give Alan a ring tomorrow to tell him. I've just been out again now and everythings quiet in the woods.

just wanted to bump this up. Hope Alan gets his bird back safely.

will the bird be able to survive okay?

I saw a big hawky type bird over the Mercedes shop accross from Tinsley Wire last night at 7.15pm on me way home from work.
Noticed it cos it was a big bugger but I couldn't identify it.

There's a bit of a resevoir behind there with lots of shrubbery & undergrowth - ideal for catching prey I guess.

Don't know if this is coincidence or the same bird? :confused:

Worth a mention.

bumping back up hope the the bird gets found

Originally posted by f_g
will the bird be able to survive okay?

no the bird will die if it is not found soon

Any news.

A big bird of prey might well be a Buzzard, cos they are quite common around here. Harris hawks are not as big, but still pretty sizeable.

I'll keep my eye out as i'm in the park a lot... Is it likely to have flown miles away or more probably still in the area?

Must admit to feeling a bit sorry for em when all the explosions were going off... Does that bother them?

Originally posted by mrinvestigat
I'll keep my eye out as i'm in the park a lot... Is it likely to have flown miles away or more probably still in the area?

Must admit to feeling a bit sorry for em when all the explosions were going off... Does that bother them?

They do stress easily. They don't range far either. Most Hawks and Owls will stay in tree cover somewhere nearby. Falcons, however will fly for miles.

It also depends on the weight of the bird. If she was over her flying weight, then she won't show much inclination to return to the fist or lure. If she was flying weight or worse still, hunting weight, then she will need food soon, if she is to survive. Depending on how experienced a hunter she is, she may be able to catch prey or even find carrion, but unless she is found quite soon, she will die.

Does anyone know which centre it was that attended the fair?

I've been trying to remember the name of them and I just can't think! I looked at falconry groups on the 'net and have drawn a blank :confused: Will keep looking...

bump to the top again

It's Pheonix ;)

I looked on the net, but couldn't find their website :(

Originally posted by RAARCHITECTS
It's Pheonix ;)

I looked on the net, but couldn't find their website :(

Is this it? (http://www.scottishfalconry.co.uk/)

anyone have any pics of the hawk walk at the fayre, or of their flying display?

We have quite a few pics of the birds (Vidsters posted a couple of them on page one similar to the one thats escaped). We took pics on both days of the birds though didn't see the flying displays unfortuately.

I don't think that website is the one as the number we have for them is local (Rotherham I believe) and a guy called Alan is the owner.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/gigglejuice/Picture308.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/gigglejuice/Picture307.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/gigglejuice/Picture305.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/gigglejuice/Picture304.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/gigglejuice/kestrel.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/gigglejuice/BH2.jpg

The Kestrels just beautiful and I held it too!! :)

If you stood at their pen, facing the banner, and there were 16? birds, the missing bird was (I think) the second from the right in the front row

Anybody got pics of the whole coup? Or can K and Vid remember which of those birds was in that position from their photos?

The bottom picture which I posted is it's sister I believe

I was watching the display on bank holiday monday and heard him tell everyone it was last seen near the bottom of prince of wales road.

They're not 'loyal' birds are they? I thought it may try and somehow find its home. Do they know where they're from for example. How far can they be taken from their 'roots?' Or would it just follow prey/food? If its been hand reared its not going know how to hunt other than diving for tethered bait is it? I just hope its natural instincts kick in.

Originally posted by kblade
They're not 'loyal' birds are they? I thought it may try and somehow find its home. Do they know where they're from for example. How far can they be taken from their 'roots?' Or would it just follow prey/food? If its been hand reared its not going know how to hunt other than diving for tethered bait is it? I just hope its natural instincts kick in.

No, they aren't loyal as such. They are trained to fly to the fist or lure by reward.

Without telemetry, it's going to be very difficult to get her back.

Harris Hawks are indigenous to arid scrubland, and unusually for raptors, hunt in teams.

If the hawk is simply a 'display bird' and has never been hunted, then it's unlikely to catch it's own food. If it's been hunted, then it might last a little longer in the wild, but the prognosis is usually poor for lost birds.

Better keep your cats inside:hihi:

Originally posted by Phanerothyme


If the hawk is simply a 'display bird' and has never been hunted, then it's unlikely to catch it's own food. If it's been hunted, then it might last a little longer in the wild, but the prognosis is usually poor for lost birds.

The more i think about it the more confused i get. I'm now wondering if it was the hawk i saw on Sunday night flying out of the woods. At the time i thought it was a Rook that had been attacked but it was dark. It could have easily been the hawk that had been attacked.

Either way the bird seemed fine as it flew away.

Originally posted by vidster
I might give Alan a ring tomorrow to tell him.

Do you have the number for Pheonix then? can you post it?

Have you tried googling the phone number to see if there's a website?

keep looking and lets hope Alan finds this bird, he does blame me for the loss as whilst doing his final display on Sunday he asked me to play the dambusters march again as we had done for the Lancaster bomber fly past and then the bird took off.
also bumps message up again

Originally posted by Strix
Do you have the number for Pheonix then? can you post it?

Have you tried googling the phone number to see if there's a website?

The number i left is his buisness number. If anyone needs the home number they can PM me :)

Hope he gets it back soon - always loved raptors and will get round to owning one (or two, or three!) some day :)

Bumpety bump.

And the post was too short :rolleyes:

Such beautiful birds; they're so graceful when they fly. I remember as a teenager being spellbound when I saw a falconer practising in a very quiet, rarely used park in London. What a shame this bird has gone missing.

One of these bird landed on my head at this show. **** myself. Didn't even see it coming!

Good news:

"A falconer from Rotherham has been re-united with one of his birds of prey thanks to BBC Radio Sheffield. Yesterday afternoon we reported his appeal for help in tracking down a 16 week old Falcon called "Whoosh" who went missing after a falconry display in Norfolk Park. Last night the pair were re-united after Whoosh was found at the open casting site at Catcliffe. A worker at the site called us after hearing the news. Alan Measures says Whoosh will be back on show this weekend ... and he's really glad to have him back..."

(from this morning's bulletins)

Oh thats fantastic news!!!!!!!!!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Hmm, I wonder where Radio Sheffield got the story from in the first place ;)

Congrats may be due to Strix (and SF ;))

Brilliant news!!!!

Interesting how many other media sources seem to be feeding off this forum now :suspect:

Do they get charged royalties for repeating our stories :D