As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Saturday, 3 August 2013

Navy warship rescues lost pigeon

A racing pigeon which got lost at sea is to be reunited with her owner after she was saved 300 miles out in the Atlantic by the crew of a Royal Navy frigate, MSN News reports. The exhausted bird was wrongly named Paul by crew members when she landed on the deck of HMS Somerset a week ago.Since then she has been fed and watered and received much attention from the 185 men and women on board.


An ex-pigeon fancier Leading Seaman William Hughes , caught the bird, checked it over and discovered that it was in fact female. He said, "It was a stroke of luck that Paul found Somerset. She will certainly have a few sea stories to tell her fellow pigeons." Lieutenant Mark Gilbert, the ship's flight commander, said, "The Royal Navy is used to saving life at sea and providing assistance to those in need. Caring for a lost pigeon seems like a natural extension to our versatile capability." The bird's ID ring allowed the crew to track down owner Gil Hartshorn, 75, from Redcar, Cleveland, who said she had been released for a cross-Channel race from France. daily times monitor


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