YOU'VE heard of the Birdman of Alcatraz. Well, Prescoed prison, in Usk, can beat that - they have their own buzzard currently doing bird while it recovers from a major injury.

The buzzard was found injured by an inmate on a home visit who brought it back to the jail to recover.

The prisoner, who does not wish to be identified, was being driven back when he spotted an injured buzzard lying at the roadside.

He said: "I thought it had been hit by a car because his head was swollen and bereft of feathers and his left eye was swollen, but from his injuries we can tell he had been attacked by crows.

"He was covered in mud and was at death's door, so I asked permission of prison officers Alan Medcraft and Dave Edwards to take him into the prison to try to save him.

"I got into the shower in my shorts with the buzzard and carefully washed the mud off him - it must have weighed about a pound - and that took me an hour."

After careful nursing and treatment over the past three weeks the buzzard, nicknamed Kojak because of his bald head, is well on the road to recovery, and staff at the prison are anxious to reunite him with his owner.

Alan Medcraft said: "We know he is a closed-wing bird bred in captivity. He had jesses, a swivel and anklets fitted, and he's got a brilliant temperament.

"He is lucky to be alive because he was very close to death when the prisoner brought him in."

He is now being cared for as part of the prison's Prescoed Barn Owl project, which is supervised by gardener Robert Amery. He said: "We've been in touch with the police because we'd like to reunite him with his owner. But in the meantime we're happy to look after him, and if any other birds like this are found in the wild we have the facilities to look after them."