A couple had a surprise visitor in their garden when a bird of prey crash-landed into their Tavistock house and had to be rescued.

It is thought the bird was either trying to escape being mobbed or attacked by ravens or crows or even attacking them itself, before losing its bearings and landing. The bird was later reclaimed by his owner who thanked everyone involved.

Stephen and Heather Newland, of Monksmead, Tavistock, were sitting quietly in their lounge when they heard a loud bang on their patio doors and rushed to the back of the house to see a bird of prey sitting in their garden.

It appeared to be dazed, disorientated and unable or unwilling to fly off. The Newlands contacted a hawk specialist who came, identified it as a falcon and took the bird, who seemed to be used to being handled, away for a check-over.

The bird had identity tags on one leg, showing it was unlikely to be wild. Eventually, the bird was reunited on Friday (October 17) with its owner who had been flying it on the moor before it flew away in a bid for freedom.

Heather said: “We were in the lounge, when we heard a tremendous bang on our French windows behind us. We got up to find out what it was and were shocked to see a hawk, which we later discovered was a beautiful falcon. It's the first time in our 29 years of living here, that this has ever happened.

“After putting out a plea on various Tavistock Facebook pages for any help, and my own social media pages, we contacted David at Westcountry Falconry who promptly came out and enticed it down from the wall where it perched.

“The falcon was in our garden for an hour, flying short distances from the ground to the wall, to a neighbour’s car and back again to the safety of the wall. It had a small strip of leather attached to its its legs with bells and a transmitter – so that's how we knew that it wasn't a wild bird.

“While the falcon was with us, we never left its side, constantly checking it was okay. It's not the sort of thing that happens every day.

“When David arrived, he put on a gauntlet, fed it a dead chick and took it away, to be safe and sound, until the owner was found. David said the falcon was beautiful and the owner had taken extremely good care of it.”

Clive Piper said he was flying ‘Ally’, a Saker falcon, on the moors when it flew off and the bird’s fitted GPS tracker crashed: “I’m so grateful to everyone involved in returning Ally back to me safe and sound. That meant a lot to me. I never stopped worrying when he went missing and always wonder if it’s my fault. But I know David of Westcountry Falconry and knew he was in safe hands. But he’s absolutely fine and flying happily again.”

Westcountry Falconry bird handler David Buncle has been a falconer for more than 30 years. He gives public hawk flying and handling flying displays and has introduced hundreds of people to the birds over the years.