Gloves off in hunt for owl (From Western Telegraph)

Gloves off in hunt for owl

The gloves came off in the hunt for Solly the escaped eagle owl last week. When owners, Dave and Yvonne Lowes-Bird, first heard Solly was in Haverford-west last Saturday, they tried to tempt the rouge bird back to earth using dead chicks as bait.

However, after Solly refused such advances for the best part of a week, Dave produced a large net and started climbing on roofs.

Last Tuesday, he came within a few inches of his prey after climbing up scaffolding to reach the roof of a Market Street building. Unfortunately for him, Solly took off at the lest second and was last seen near City Road on Friday.

Solly is a bird of great mystery with questions being raised about both his gender and his exact species.

Local bird enthusiasts have questioned whether Solly is, as his owners believe, a European, rather than an African eagle owl. Graham Rees, bird recorder for Pembrokeshire, said he could even be a hybrid.

The Lowes-Birds are divided over whether their flighty escapee is male or female. Yvonne thinks he's a boy because he plays up around women while Dave thinks the bird's stubbornness proves it is female.

Mr Rees said: "A bird ringer would be able to tell the bird's gender by handling it. It would simply involve moving some of its feathers."

Solly's owners say he has lost weight since he went missing and may not survive in the wild.

Mr Rees said Solly had clearly learned to hunt during his two weeks of freedom. He said winter would be the critical time when the bird may not survive in town. But he added that if Solly was willing to 'sally forth' into Canaston Woods, there was a fine living to be had from wood pigeons.