Unusual birds found in Pitmedden Forest

by News Desk

heraldnews@fifetoday.co.uk

Published on the 12 September 2014 

12:22

The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after a group of ornamental pigeons were discovered in a forest near Auchtermuchty.

Scotland’s animal welfare charity was alerted when a member of the public spotted the unusual birds venturing around Pitmedden Forest last Saturday (September 6).

The three birds are now being cared for at the Scottish SPCA’s National Wildlife Centre in Fishcross, Clackmannanshire.

Scottish SPCA senior inspector John Chisholm said: “We managed to capture the first pigeon on Saturday and then I returned on Sunday and rescued the remaining pair. The lady who called believed there may have been more of them but so far we haven’t been able to find any.

“The pigeons were fairly easy to capture as they couldn’t fly very well, which would have made them easy prey for other animals.

“Although it’s possible the group may have escaped from their home, we have to consider the possibility that the birds were deliberately abandoned and are appealing to anyone who recognises them to get in touch.

“If no one comes forward we’ll find them a caring new home.”

Continued ...

Falcon found at Dunbar

The Scottish SPCA is seeking the owner of a saker falcon found at Dunbar.

Scotland’s animal welfare charity was called to rescue the bird after a member of the public spotted it at Thorntonloch Caravan Park on Thursday (November 14). A rope attached to its legs had become entangled in a fence.

The bird is now in the care of the charity’s National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fishcross, near Alloa.

Read on .....

Barbie gull: Pink birds and Scotland

The Scottish SPCA has rescued a seagull found covered in a "Barbie pink" paint or dye, but Blush is not Scotland's first brush with pink birds.

Pranksters are suspected in the case of Blush, the young herring gull found in Mallaig with an unusual colour of plumage.

Animal welfare officers based in Alloa are now caring for the chick who should eventually grow out the painted feathers after unsuccessful attempts to clean it off.

Pink gulls have a Scottish literary heritage. For West Hartlepool-born writer Compton Mackenzie, who died in Edinburgh in 1972 and is buried on Barra, they were key to the plot of his book Rockets Galore.

The story was a sequel to his 1947 novel Whisky Galore which was loosely based on the real-life story of the SS Politician, which sank off the coast Western Isles loaded with hundreds of cases of whisky.

Continued