File:Day 189 - West Midlands Police - Kestrel chicks.jpg

This photo shows two of the Kestrel chicks rescued by a specialist wildlife West Midlands Police officer in Wolverhampton, England.

The chicks were rescued from the clutches of a bird poaching suspect who’d taken them from a Wolverhampton church-top nest.

Police, who were called to reports of metal thieves attacking the roof of St Mary’s Church, Bushbury, were shocked to find not lead but four baby birds of prey stuffed inside a bag in the foot-well of a car parked on site.

Wolverhampton response officers had the chicks taken to an RSPCA shelter following the find − in the early hours of June 19 − before locating the nest some 50ft off the ground.

With the help of ladders supplied by Green Watch, of Fallings Park Fire Service, officers returned the chicks to their home later that afternoon − and five weeks later PC Chris Watson, who was one of the first officers on the scene,was thrilled to watch the fledged birds fly the nest.

He said: "We needed to find the nest quickly as the longer they were away the more chance there was of their mother abandoning the nest, assuming she’d lost them.

"We found it hidden high up on the side of the Church…it had been accessed with a makeshift extended ladder, made up of two ladders strapped together with electrical wiring! Those involved were not only poaching birds illegally but also putting themselves in very real danger.