Watch: The moment a rescued buzzard is released back into the wild in Silverdale

A video captures the heart-warming moment an RSPCA rescuer releases a rehabilitated buzzard back into the wild in Silverdale.
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The animal welfare charity was called to help after a member of the public came across the stricken bird in Richmond Hill, Stankelt Road on March 10.

A woman spotted the bird of prey in a field and could see he was unable to fly so called the RSPCA for help.

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Animal rescuer, inspector Alison Fletcher was sent to the scene and could see the bird was unable to fly, was struggling to move around and was clearly underweight.

The bird is released back into the wild near to where it was found.The bird is released back into the wild near to where it was found.
The bird is released back into the wild near to where it was found.

She said: “The buzzard was very weak and lethargic, I was really concerned because he looked so thin and was soaking wet which had made him waterlogged but I could not see any injuries to the bird.”

Her colleague, Animal Rescue Officer David Hatton took the buzzard to the Kendal College animal rescue centre where no obvious signs of injury were found.

The bird was cared for and fed over the next few weeks until he was strong enough to return to the wild.

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David took the bird of prey to the area near where he was found for release last week and said his weight had increased from 600g to 1.2kg during his time in the care of the college.

The bird doubled its weight during its time at Kendal College.The bird doubled its weight during its time at Kendal College.
The bird doubled its weight during its time at Kendal College.

He said: “When I first took the buzzard he was very subdued and was not moving much at all.

"Then when I took him to be released he was like a different bird - he was feisty and very keen to fly off.

“Kendal College did a great job in rehabilitating him and it was fortunate his predicament was spotted by the member of the public when it was or he would have starved.

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“We are still not sure why he was unable to fly. There is a busy road nearby so maybe he was slightly clipped by a car.

“It is just great he made a full recovery and it is always a nice part of the job to release an animal safely back to the wild.”