10:13am Monday 22nd December 2008
By Neil Phillips
A PLEA for help has gone out to eagle-eyed members of the public to help in the search for a missing falcon.
Sasha the falcon, who is around seven months old, vanished from Spingfield landfill site in Broad Lane, Beaconsfield, on Friday.
Birds of prey, such as falcons, are used on the landfill site to ward off other birds. This is so seagulls or crows, for example, cannot land in the tip, root around in it and then fly off, transferring unhygienic waste or disease from the landfill.
Gemma McClughen, a bird handler at the tip, said: “They're the best way to keep birds off the tip.”
She explained Sasha had only been let out for a full flight for the first time on Wednesday.
When she was let out again on Friday she found what was thought to be a crow's carcass. Sasha then left the tip with the carcass and hasn't returned since.
Gemma said Sasha no longer felt the need to return to her handler as she had found her own food: “It's all based around food. You train them to come back to you because you offer them food - I'm 'mum' basically. But now she's found her own source of food she doesn't need to.”
The falcon is described as white with brown flecks, has a bell attached to her left leg, and a transmitter on her right leg. Gemma said it is possible Sasha may have travelled a long distance from Beaconsfield by now, and also she may have chewed through the transmitter.
Anyone who has spotted Sasha, or who has information on her whereabouts, should call 07921060820.
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