Bird of prey spotted in Muxton, Telford
Monday 18th April 2011, 7:35PM BST.
Police today appealed for help to trace the owner of a bird of prey which has been spotted circling over a Shropshire village.
Officers said several concerned residents had spotted the bird, which is believed to be either a hawk or a buzzard, in the last week.
They said the bird had been spotted in the Wellington Road area of Muxton on a number of occasions.
Resident Margaret Riley said she and her husband John had first spotted the bird, which she identified as a harris hawk, last Wednesday.
It then appeared in their garden every day up until Saturday but it had not appeared since then, she added.
Police said they had received two separate calls from members of the public who have also spotted the bird and they are now attempting to trace the owner.
A spokeswoman said there had been no ownership claims so far. Call police on 0300 333 3000.
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Unbelievable! I regularly walk over The Granville and Lilleshall with my dog and often see buzzards and hawks flying around.
It’s called nature!!, not some alien invasion that needs to be reported to the police. Appreciate it, enjoy it, think yourself lucky to see such wonderful animals.
We’ve got a nice long weekend coming up. Make the most of it, take yourselves off to the countryside. It’s not as far as you may think!
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Yeah, but…
If it is a Harris Hawk, as per the article, and not a mis-identified native, then chances are it *is* an escaped captive.
Not that the picture in the article is helping much, that looks like a buzzard to me.
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Thanks for changing the picture accompanying this article.
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Where’s the story? Why all the fuss? Doesn’t Muxton have much bird life? And what makes police think it should have an owner? I’m totally gobsmacked by this non-story. For heaven’s sake, it’s a wild bird, and definitely not a harris hawk if the bird in the picture is the same creature. People responsible for this mind-blowing, naive nonsense ought to get out a bit more.
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Is this a bit of a Joke ? They will find buzzards/hawks etc are an everyday occurrence in the British countryside? and yes may even be around a built up area, dare I say , and I do not really want to but I will has this been dealt with by a pcso? who has a little knowledge of british wildlife?? if it has then I can understand the story /press involvement. please tell me a police officer has not been dealing with this .
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mr finch how comes you comment on everything!have you not got a life dont you go to work or is this your work?
to the people of muxton stop wasting police time.its a bird and there is a lot of them out there
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Yes Pam I go to work love it , got a fantastic life also thanks better than some probably.
Do you normally make comments that are not relevant to the story Pam? . Or should I say “how comes you comment” , Did you go to school??.
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What makes you think a PCSO has less knowledge on birds of prey then a regular police officer/sgt/inspector/superintendent/chief?
The only officer who would be dealing with this is the police wildlife officer. To be fare if it’s anyones job it’s RSPB.
But totally agreed that Buzzards and Hawks are allowed to fly over urban areas. There us not a invisable force field which stops them. Why this is a story I do not know!
Shaun
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My point Shaun was that I hoped a front line fully trained police officer was not dealing with this, and it was indeed left to the likes of a pcso who is not a fully trained police officer to deal with. As A DUEL INCOME TAX PAYING FAMILY we would not want our money wasted on this.
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Nice one ‘Country Lad’ and ‘Nick’.
The bird-loving people of Muxton are neither naive nor non-sensical, but they can spot a wild bird from a bird raised in captivity, unlike these pair of so-called wildlife lovers.
The Harris is still attached to the short jessies, hence it is obviously raised in captivity. The jessies could also potentially hinder its survival.
Well done people of Muxton for attempting to reunite this bird with it’s owner. If it were left to the likes of ‘country lad’ or ‘Nick’ the Harris, a beautiful bird of prey, would remain at large and at risk of becoming entangled in the jessies.
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Thanks to all the people who assisted in the search for rock last night and for those who rung in as Julie said to countrylad and nick the people of muxton are certainly not acting nievely they correctly identified a two year old male fully active hunting harris witch I have owned and trained untill a fumbled break in to his mews resulted in him been pushed out of his area they could clearly see the bird had hunting jesses on and had a i.b.r ring and totally did the right thing by contacting the police who then informed me via the I.b.r I would advise that you only comment on thing you are fully advised about or have first hand knowledge about … Thanks again to all those who have tried to help in this matter The police have a contact number for me so if anyone can help in the serch for rock your help will be fully appreciated and not looked upon as nieve !
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Good post. Once again, poor reporting is responsible for a number of the comments on here.
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Julie, if that is the case regarding the jesses, then fair enough. However, the above article has no mention of jesses or leg rings.
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Thank you country lad.
You obviously spend a lot of time looking at the wildlife in the area. If you see Rock, he is a thing of beauty and not to be missed, apart from by his owner that is.
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Yes but the article did not say any of this did it?.
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There is a massive problem with them in Wales! I saw Red Kites last time I was there too and they were circling in an aggressive manner. I think they were looking for small children or babies to feed on. They have been much worse since the coalition government, and there was massive growth during the Labour years. We would be much safer from these aerial terrorists under the conservatives.
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My first thoughts were the same as Country Lad and Nick, but when I read the full story in the paper it mentioned that the bird in question had a leg ring, which would suggest that it was captive-bred.
Buzzards are ten a penny in the Telford area, I can often see two or three circling at any given time, but as far as I know not many people keep them in captivity.
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What will tomorrows headline be…
“Car seen on road!”
Another slow news day for Sloppy Star, almost as daft as yesterdays bones found in graveyard!!!
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Muxton / Lilleshall / The Humbers are probably one of the most diverse areas of Telford and Wrekin in terms of Bird life
The Bird spotted could be a Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel or even a Red Kite. I saw a Red Kite over the M54 at Ketley only 4 or 5 weeks ago.
As it is landing in gardens it is more than likely a Sparrowhawk, looking for small songbirds as food.
The picture you use is cetainly not a Harris Hawk, so story wise this seems to be a “non event”
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well i seen a very large bird in the area with my father in law also hovering over the wellington road area of muxton….it had a red tip on its tailand the tail was like the a tail you get on a fish .my father in law said it could be a red kite.could this be the bird…..
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this is a Saker falcon,they breed in Austria,Hungary and Czech republic,they are brilliant hunters and are favourite with falconers in the Arab states.I have seen them around the salt lake at Larnaca and Phasouri reed beds on Cyprus.This is a falconers escapee.
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The bird is neither a Buzzard, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Saker Falcon or a Red Kite. It is a Harris Hawk and the owner came to retrieve it yesterday. Unfortunately, it flew off towards the Granville.
It is very easy to spot as the short leg ties are still attached.
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NOT SO!!!! its a saker falcon!!!!!!!The Harris hawk is a hawk this is a FALCON!
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David
Tell that to the owner. As I said, he was here trying to retrieve it yeasterday and, as an experienced falconer, I think he knows the difference. He also brought along the birds flying partner. Another Harris Hawk surprisingly.
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David,
The bird in the picture is NOT the bird that was lost – it’s a library picture, and may well be what you suggest it is. As such the Shropshire Star might have shown a picture of the wrong bird… to be fair I doubt if their staff are experts on birds of prey!
As Julie has said, the bird that was actually lost apparently still has jesses attached, indicating that it is (was!) a captive bird – and if the owner has identified it as his Harris Hawk then I think he’s more than likely right don’t you?
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The Star have changed the picture now – does that help you to understand that the picture used isn’t necessarily one of the bird that was actually lost?
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most beautiful sight ; went on a Brey of Prey experience year ago on Exmoor and since then I am always spotting them in the wild.
Regularly spot them between Newport & Muxton
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I thought they only had cougars in Muxton.
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I’m at a loss where the story is.
Go anywhere near Cosford and on a warm day you’ll regularly see them circling. I have a friend who works on the airfield and he says there’s a few nesting pairs.
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Well spoken David Candlin – a saker for sure.
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Take a look,
http://www.photogalaxy.com/photo/jonuk/36/
http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/phrase/5088/saker-falcon.html
Spot the difference!
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this is my brothers hawk and without this spotting he would never have found it so if your not a bird owner or just think there just pretty to look at then don’t bother commenting. the people who helped in his search have been wicked there not naive the bird had hunting leathers on and is clearly not wild……….and david its a harris hawk the pic is wrong
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Try: ‘you’re not’… ‘they’re just pretty’… ‘they’re not naive’…
Perhaps the odd capital letter here and there might help too.
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Peter, try unnecessary pedanticism.
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Perhaps it’s an escaped budgie that’s been feeding on vermin from GM crop fields, the picture does not do justice, it has a wingspan of 48 feet.
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Never mind this story, they have found bones in a church yard, nooooooooooo.
Its all tooo crazy
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Reminds me why I don’t usually bother buying the Star….
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Good decision Infiltrator. Typical Sloppy reporting, with wrong picture used and incomplete facts, has caused all this confusion. However, it still doesn’t come anywhere near their classic headline of a few years ago – Infertility can be passed to children, say scientists.
I had hoped, in vain obviously, that things might improve. Little wonder its credibility matches its plummeting circulation.
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I do buy the Star – and generally it’s not a bad local paper – certainly no worse than the nationals.
I still treasure one item from a few years ago, when Councillor X from Shifnal Town Council was reported as saying “I’m going to chase the Town Clerk over the flower beds…” – that did make it onto Have I Got News For You!
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Dear ‘sonic’; the word is ‘pedantry’, not ‘pedanticism’.
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The Harris Hawk was spotted in our garden today again in Wellington Road Muxton. The bird was wearing jesses and appears to be well. It has killed and eaten a wood pigeon this afternoon. Beautiful bird and not afraid of humans. Does anyone know the owners yet please?
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