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SAVED: John Hall, of Wessex Bird of Prey Rescue, frees the buzzard

PROTECTED birds of prey are being found with shotgun wounds in the Blandford area, according to a rescue centre.

Jon Hall, who runs Wessex Bird of Prey Rescue in Canford Heath, said nine birds, all with pellet wounds from a 16-gauge shotgun, had been brought in from the same area over the last three months.

He believes the four buzzards, two sparrowhawks, two kestrels and a tawny owl were deliberately blasted - and many more could have been shot.

He said: "That's only the ones that have come into us. We normally think of a ratio of five to one - for every shot bird we see, another five are killed outright. We're looking at another 40 to 50 birds."

Four of those brought in have been released and a sparrowhawk is still being cared for by the centre, but severe injuries meant the rest were put to sleep.

"Some of them are quite rare and all of them are highly protected," added Jon.

"It's very distressing for the bird, especially going through the rigours of an operation to remove the pellets."

He added: "Someone is shooting perfectly healthy birds.

"The cost of it is enormous and takes a big chunk of our money which could be spent helping birds injured by natural causes."

One of the shot birds, a common buzzard, was released at a site in Dorset on Monday.

The adult female bird had surgery for a broken wing at Damory Veterinary clinic in Blandford and spent three weeks at the rescue centre.

Jon, who runs the centre with his wife Terri and 12 volunteers, said: "It was absolutely brilliant she came out of her box and flew up to a branch and three other buzzards came along and started calling to her.

"Just to watch her fly off was amazing."

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "Wessex Bird of Prey Rescue kindly supplied us with this information and we now need help from the public. If anyone knows of anyone shooting birds in the Blandford area, or how these birds came to be injured, they should contact Dorset Police on 01202 222 222."

7:00pm Friday 16th May 2008

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