A LLANDEINIOL woman got a surprise when she checked the drains at her house for blockages - and found a blue tit

Barbara Evans contacted the Cambrian News to share what happened when she did her annual check of the drains around the house to see if they were blocked with leaves.

There was an obstruction in one of them, but it wasn’t leaves, as Mrs Evans explained.

She said: “I went to see if the drains around the house were blocked with leaves and so on - I do this about once a year.

“My husband had made covers for each of these drains which slide on and off, to stop all the debris of autumn flying into them.

“When I slid the cover off this drain, lo and behold this young blue tit was sitting eight inches deep down in the dark.

“We were both (myself and the blue tit) equally surprised and just stared at each other for a while. And then I realised it needed to be lifted out.

“As I tried to hold it, it flew up onto a nearby trellis, and after a few minutes flew off to a big tree.”

Mrs Evans went on: “The only way the bird could have arrived in that drain was down the drainpipe, 20 or 30 feet from the rooftop.

“Apart from the shock of the vertical drop, can you imagine the chances of survival?

“It would be one in 365 days, the very day I looked in the drain. Miracles do happen even for blue tits.”