Church’s family service for
A VICAR decided to close his church when he found nesting birds rearing their young in his lectern.
And Adrian Brooks was rewarded with the sight of eight baby Eurasian blue tits.
To help the visitors to fledge their chicks, the 14th century church was shut to the general public for two weeks, services for parishioners were held without the organ and the bells were silenced.
To help the new family, the congregation at St Thomas a Becket church in Sourton, on the edge of Dartmoor, Devon, blessed the birds after each service.
The birds flew away two weeks later.
Local wildlife photographer Colin Sargent, who took pictures of the blue tits inside the lectern, said: “We had to encourage them out of windows and doors.
“They all eventually got out safely, which was a big relief for everyone. Everything is back to
normal now and as soon as they left the bell ringers were back.”
Rev Brooks added: “As in any church grounds we get swallows that nest but it’s the first time we’ve had any birds inside the church.”
The nest was discovered by maintenance man Tony Batten who spotted the visitors flying around the lectern.
When he shone his torch inside the lectern’s carved holes, he was amazed to discover the nest of newlyhatched chicks inside.
Though their typical site is a hole in a tree, blue tits have been recorded nesting in a variety of places, from letter boxes to street lamps.
And this was not the first time the species has been found lodging in a church.
A pair was seen raising a brood under the capping at the top of a West Harling church tower in Norfolk, and another in a church wall in mid-Wales.