Robert Sutcliffe
AN eagle which was sold to a southern fancier gave him the bird and flew more than 200 miles home to Yorkshire.
Lucy, a three-year-old African tawny eagle, did
not settle at her new home near Reading and one day while being flown by her new owner took off.
Titus Wardle, 21, from Malhamdale Falconry based at Hanlith Hall, Malham, said she was reported missing to the Independent Bird Register and a wildlife liaison officer but sightings were few, though her position was originally noted using a tracking device. But more than two weeks later she turned up at Gordale Scar as Mr Wardle was flying a Harris hawk. Days before there had been a sighting about 30 miles away at Hawes.
Mr Wardle said the new owner had just phoned up and said: "She has gone." It was a really windy day, and Lucy must have caught a gust of wind and started heading north.
"It's the distance she has travelled that is surprising. It is very, very unusual. I have been involved in falconry from the age of nine but the furthest I have know them stray in the past is about 10 miles – from Blackpool to Fleetwood landfill site.
"We have given him his money back (£3,000). Lucy obviously likes it up here and is going to stay. It was a bit of a shock to say the least when I found her again.
"I was flying a Harris hawk and she was acting a bit odd. I looked around and there was Lucy sitting on a dry stone wall. I heard her bell, which was attached to one of her legs. She must have been eating because she looked quite well."