The Eagle Owl is the largest and most powerful owl found in Europe

Flora, a European Eagle Owl, took off from her home in West Mersea late on Sunday while having her first flying lesson.

She was found on Tuesday evening in a tree in a garden a few hundred yards away.

Her owners, Ian Wingar, 60, and his wife Judith, 55, said Flora appeared unharmed by her adventure.

"She was perched in a tree and a falconer managed to entice her down," said Mrs Wingar.

"She seems absolutely fine. We will be teaching her to fly again but we'll have to be more careful next time."

Flora, named because she was hatched in a margarine tub inside an incubator, was being put on the end of a rope ready for a flying lesson when she escaped.

The Wingars feared that their owl, which stands 2 ft tall and has a 4 ft wingspan, might have been killed by a fox.

A European Eagle Owl which disappeared from Pembrokeshire, Wales, last March has never been found.