Things a flutter...

Escaped vultures, out-of-place heron's, and now Eagle owls soaring in the skies above the capital - in the July of 1997 traffic was brought to a standstill around the roads of St. Paul's Cathedral as the London Fire Brigade attempted to rescue a feathery anomaly perched some 130-ft up on the the cathedral's doors. The bird they were attempting to capture was a European Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) which stood 20 inches tall with a five-feet wingspan.

The bird was all a flutter some five weeks previous but had apparently escaped some five years before, when it was seen near London Zoo, other sightings took place in Camden, Hyde Park and Regent's Park where it attacked a man's dog as he took a stroll!

Unfortunately on the day of 6th July the bird was found dead by office staff who work opposite the cathedral. The bird was laying face down on a ledge, it had died of a bacterial wasting disease, something unusual in birds. The bird had leather falconry anklets on, proving it was once held in captivity.