What a hoot! Engineers rescue two trapped tawny owls from Sedgley church

The engineers and apprentice, who all work for BCF Gas Services, Bilston, were called to St Mary the Virgin Hurst Hill church in Sedgley after the congregation heard hooting.

It is believed the tawny owls were mating on top of the church's chimney when they fell in.

The rescue three, comprised of gas and heating engineers Kevin Hesom, aged 58, his son James Hesom, aged 26 and apprentice Ryan Paskin, aged 17, worked tirelessly to find and free the birds, taking a video of the rescue which they uploaded to YouTube.

James said: "We got the call on Thursday after the church said it first heard the hooting on Sunday. We arrived and I said I couldn't leave it not knowing what happened to them.

"We were told the noises were coming from behind a radiator, which fronted an old fire place, leading down from the church's chimney.

"There was a metal plate in front of the fireplace and the radiator on top of that. So we had to freeze the pipes and prise the radiator forward.

"As we pulled everything forward, we peered down and could just see two pairs of big eyes looking at us from the darkness.

"Once we saw that, we weren't going to stop until we saved them."

The rescue on Thursday was just days before James' wedding at Dudley Priory Hall Registry Office, which took place on Saturday.

James said: "My other half, Maxine, was with us at the rescue. We were all meant to be doing errands for the wedding but we ended up saving the owls instead."

Maxine, aged 31, said: "Our day went so well on Saturday, I think it's down to the good deed of freeing the birds.

"I couldn't believe it when we saw them blinking up at us. I cried, it was that amazing, because at one point we were worried they may have died behind there.

"To see them fly away was a beautiful moment and the perfect start to our wedding weekend."

The group then worked together to free the birds, with Ryan stopping the water from the radiator, Kevin pulling the plate forward and James putting his hand down the gap to pull the birds out.

Kevin said: "James put his hand in, with heavy duty gloves on, to free the owls. Their talons went straight through the gloves but that didn't stop him.

"We got them out and offered them some water. One of them flew off into a nearby tree and then the other went to join it before they both flew off together - I think they were partners!"

James added: "It was nice to see them together at the end, flying off like an old married couple."

The dramatic rescue was the first Ryan had attended. He said: "It was amazing to see them in the dark and then to watch them fly away, it was really satisfying."

Speaking about the rescue on Facebook, St Mary the Virgin Hurst Hill church said: "We've had visitors at St Mary's. Two beautiful tawny owls got stuck down the chimney. Thank goodness we were able to free them and release them back into the wilds of Hurst Hill. Our thanks to Kevin and James Hesom."

But, this is not the first time Kevin and James have had to save trapped birds.

Kevin said: "At this time of year, it's really common for nesting birds to fall into chimneys and get trapped because they can't open their wings to fly out.

"We've saved ravens trapped in bedrooms, magpies, pigeons and owls before too. But this is the first time we've saved a pair.

"I'd advise anyone who thinks they can hear a bird trapped in their property to contact professionals to get them out."

*For video see expressandstar.com