Missing Syd the vulture, may not be all he seems.

The English School of Falconry found their missing bird just five miles away from their Bedfordshire base yesterday (Thursday) after 11 days at large.

But it appears another vulture may still be on the loose in the Colchester area, as his owners now very much doubt Sydney is the same bird trainers tried unsuccessfully to tempt down from the treetops of Lexden for ten hours on Monday.

Then, trainer Ralph Costello said he was 99 per cent sure the vulture was Sydney, but now this may not be the case.

Today (Friday), Maggie Gooden, one of the owners of the falconry school, said Sydney had been recaptured and reunited with his mate late last night.

"We had a call from a farmer in Broom, which is about five miles away, who said a vulture had landed in his field." she said.

Husband Phil Gooden and a trainer managed to catch a very wet and bedraggled Sydney after a four-hour chase.

"We are absolutely over the moon to have him back," said Mrs Gooden.

"I don't think it was Sydney in Colchester. A vulture would not fly that distance and come back again.

"This poses the question that there is another vulture still at large."

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