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.

Thursday, 3 April 2014

Missing vulture Gandalf found on Scots island of Islay

A vulture that went missing from a bird of prey centre in North Lanarkshire has been found about 100 miles away on the island of Islay.

The bird, called Gandalf, disappeared from the World of Wings centre in Cumbernauld on 23 March.

There had been no confirmed sightings until a farmer on the Hebridean island spotted the vulture on his farm.

Gandalf was caught by a local bird expert and is being returned home. The vulture was hungry but unharmed.

She had been chased away from the skies above Cumbernauld by three buzzards who attacked as the vulture performed an aerial display.

It was the second time that Gandalf, a Ruppell's Griffon Vulture, native to Africa, had vanished from World of Wings.

The bird, which has a 10.5ft wingspan and can soar up to 37,000ft, went missing for a week in August 2010.

Gandalf has been the star at the World of Wings centre since 2006, when she was brought from the Sahel region of central Africa as part of a breeding programme.

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