Borve Lodge welcomes long-staying feathered guest

A racing pigeon missing for four years has turned up in the grounds of Borve Lodge Estate and is happily settling into its new home in South Harris, where it is becoming some-thing of a local celebrity.

Harold in the office (Credit: Borve Lodge)

The pigeon, who appeared on the drive earlier this month, has now taken up residence in the Lodge’s conservatory and been given the name ‘Harold’. Its story appeared on the front page of last week’s Stornoway Gazette.

Staff first noticed the bird because it wasn’t moving very much, and when they tried to shoo it away, it followed them indoors, eventually making itself comfortable in the office, sitting on the photocopier.

“We noticed it was tagged and thought if it’s a homing pigeon, it has to have an owner,” said Cathra Kelliher, owner of Borve Lodge. She researched the bird’s origins via a specialist racing pigeon web-site, and discovered that it had belonged to a pigeon breeder based in London. Four years ago it was taken to Thurso for a race to London – and had never been seen since. When she contacted the previous owner, he invited her to keep the bird.

Cathra and the team decided to keep an eye on Harold (whose gender is unknown) for a while, to allow it to recover from its travels. While they expected it to move on after a few days, it has made itself at home and is being cared for by the team, who say it has a particular taste for peanuts.

“We’ve grown quite fond of it now and we’re spoiling it rotten,” says Cathra. “It doesn’t look like it has any intention of leaving.”