Buzzard chick successfully smuggled into foster nest

A baby buzzard has been successfully introduced into a foster nest, after falling an estimated 25m from a Scots pine tree.

The bird, nicknamed 'Buzzard Lightyear', was discovered by a RSPCA warden after he heard it calling for help from a pile of dishevelled leaves.

Experts at the Stapeley Grange wildlife centre in Nantwich, Cheshire, took him home and fed him cooked chicken, before he was given a temporary nest to allow him to rest.

After finding a suitable foster family in the form of another buzzard nest, staff began the risky operation of transferring the chick to his new home.

Maxine Bland, a raptor expert at Stapeley, said:

'Buzz was slipped into the nest in Derbyshire a week ago and we can now report that the operation was a success and he has been accepted by his new foster parents, who only had one chick to care for and now have two.'

Fallen chicks are common near nests, but this can often be the first stages of a fledgling's learning to fly, and it is usually best to leave them where they are.

If you find a chick and are unsure of what to do, visit the RSPB website.