DUBAI // Birdwatchers have been alerted to be on the lookout for Pandora, a white-chested, greyish-black falcon who was accidently blown off course by high winds during a training session in Ras Al Khaimah on Wednesday.
The tracking device attached to the six-year-old peregrine falcon is not working and there has been no trace of her since she gave chase to a drone as part of her training routine.
“We were training her to fly to a drone and then strong winds took the drone away and because she is trained to chase she obviously instinctively followed it and was carried away too,” said Mitchell Olivier, her trainer and head falconer at the Banyan Tree Al Wadi hotel in Ras Al Khaimah.
“Chasing the drone is good exercise for falcons because it teaches them to climb very high and gets them strong and fit very quickly. We attach tracking devices to the falcons that are similar to a GPS, but unfortunately there has been no signal.”
This is only the second time in Mr Olivier’s 12-year career as a professional falconer that he has seen a bird blown away by strong winds.
The last time was two years ago, but the missing falcon returned and was found in a nearby garden at the Banyan Tree resort.
Mr Olivier is hopeful Pandora will return when she tires of hunting for prey.
“Falcons sometimes get lazy and don’t want to catch food, then they will come back to the area where they last got food,” he said. “The next three days are crucial. I’m hoping she will find her way back by then.”
The Banyan Tree’s birds of prey include four peregrine falcons, two Harris hawks, one greater spotted eagle, four desert eagle owls and two barn owls.
The falconers team put out an alert on Facebook with a picture of Pandora with an appeal to anyone who spots her to call Banyan Tree Recreation on 050-6478971 or 050-6471886.
Having worked with her for three years, Mr Olivier describes Pandora as very vocal.
“I’m extremely attached to her. She weighs 1kg, makes lots of noise, loves to chase pigeons and has a very white chest,” he said.
“She is strong and fit because we trained her to hunt so she can survive. If she does not come back in a week then I will be despondent.”
The hotel’s falcons are housed in outdoor and indoor enclosures and usually taken inside during the summer.
The National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology had issued predictions of unstable weather over the past few days with winds in interior areas of between 22km and 45km per hour.
The bureau forecast an increase in cloud cover in the north causing fresh and strong winds to blow dust and sand, reducing visibility.
rtalwar@thenational.ae