Falconer emotional after finding missing Chanel

Chanel the peregrine falcon is back safely with her owner Mick Smith

A falconer said he had been left "overjoyed and emotional" after a community's effort helped him find his missing bird of prey.

Chanel, the three-year-old peregrine falcon, went missing from a garden in Brantham, Suffolk, on Sunday.

Her owner Mick Smith was desperately searching for her and appealed for help.

Earlier, the 76-year-old managed to recapture Chanel on the shoreline in nearby Stutton thanks to the help of local dog walkers who he said he owed everything to.

Mr Smith had been visiting his partner in Brantham over the weekend and brought Chanel and his other male peregrine to monitor their feeding during their hunting season.

As he did not intend to fly the birds, Chanel was not wearing a GPS tag when her leash became loose and she flew off.

Mr Smith, who lives near Ely in Cambridgeshire, said he received numerous calls of sightings over the days, but by Tuesday night believed they had exhausted all options.

People in the Brantham area were asked to keep an eye out for Chanel in their gardens

On Wednesday morning, as he prepared to return home, he received a call saying Chanel had been seen in the Stutton area, and a further report from dog walkers.

The couple, Mike and Jane Hems, sent him a photo confirming it was Chanel, but she flew off into a tree just before nightfall.

"We gathered at six this morning when it was pitch black and waited for the daylight to lure her," he continued.

"Thankfully the dog walkers, for a third time, found her sitting on the shoreline - attracted my attention.

"I came along, took the lure out and she came immediately like a bullet, hit the lure, ravenously eating her reward."

Mr Smith does not believe Chanel had eaten too much, but she was well and now resting.

"I am absolutely overjoyed, emotional, drained," he continued.

"I'm hoping she's thinking, 'I'm pleased to be home, it's good to be back'."