Published: Tuesday, 15th April, 2008 12:00pm

Missing owl Wally is caught

OWLS about that then - Wally the runaway bird of prey has finally been recaptured and reunited with his lovelorn mate.

The wandering Eurasian eagle owl took flight from Kelburn Falconry Centre, near Largs, in February and has been on the loose ever since.

After desperate owner Alan Jenkinson appealed in the Tele for help to find him, the people of Inverclyde launched their very own "Where"s Wally?" hunt, reporting numerous sightings across the district.

The errant owl was eventually traced to the garden of Haylie House, a care home in Largs, and is now safely back in his pen, where he has been reunited with his mate, Annie.

Alan told the Tele: 'I caught Wally on Sunday afternoon.

'He was hungry and I put a wee mouse out on my glove for him.

'Wally was away for about 10 weeks, so I was starting to get worried.

'All the old folk at the home have been waving to him from the window.

'They loved having him there, but he has to come home.

'He"s a big friendly thing and I think folk quite liked the idea of him being free.

'We are glad to have him back home though. I am over the moon.' Now it"s a case of lovebirds reunited as two-foot tall Wally, who has a wingspan of four and a half feet, was welcomed home by Annie, who he escaped with after a storm ripped open their cage.

She was quickly recaptured, but Wally went on wandering.

Alan said: 'He is back in his pen and seems his normal self, although he has missed the breeding season, which ended in March.

'We will have to wait until the next season now. He had gone away overnight before, after doing a display for the public, but would normally come home in the morning.

'I think he got carried away by the storm this time.'

Alan has thanked all the eagle-eyed well-wishers who kept an eye out for Wally during his wayward spell.

He said: 'I got a lot of folk phoning from Greenock and I"m glad they did.

'I"m very grateful - we would never have got him back without them.