Kestrel back in wild at Cuerden Valley after winter rescue (From Chorley Citizen)

Kestrel back in wild at Cuerden Valley after winter rescue

8:00am Monday 21st January 2013 in News

An ailing bird of prey has been released back into the wild at Cuerden Valley after police and with a rescue group nursed it back to health.

The female kestrel was found by a dog walker on the marsh area of Hesketh Bank, near Southport, before Christmas.

The bird was in a poor condition due to the adverse weather conditions and had not been able to hunt properly.

It was initially taken in by a member of the public who had previous experience of dealing with raptors.

Lancashire police’s wildlife crime officer, Mark Thomas, was then able to have the kestrel recovered by Cuerden Birds of Prey, a sanctuary involved in the conservation of birds, which operates a rescue and rehabilitation service.

Richard Cookson, the owner of Cuerden Birds of Prey, said: “The wild bird had started to become dependent on the local man who found it due to lack of food and its low condition. We gave the bird a full check over and fed it up back to health.”

The bird was kept in isolation to stop this reliance on human contact, and once it was strong enough, the group called in Mr Thomas to put the kestrel back out to the wild.

The kestrel was released in the Cuerden Valley estate.

Mr Thomas said: “Getting the bird back out to the wild where it belongs was the priority for all involved.

“The bird was in good health on the release date and it was great to watch it fly off.”