Unusual swallow nest

When migrating swallows turned her house and barn into a home from home, Vivien Reynolds thought she had hit upon the ideal deterrent.

She placed a model of a giant eagle owl high up in the barn, hoping the plastic predator's golden eyes and sharp talons would scare off the birds.

The swallows had other ideas. After two days eyeing up Ollie, the fake 3ft owl, a pair of the birds settled on its head.

They then built a nest out of mud and twigs - where they are now raising a family of five hungry chicks.

Mrs Reynolds, 58, of South Hams, Devon, said: "My husband and I adore the swallows and when they arrive we have them absolutely everywhere.

"But this year we needed some extra storage space in the barn so we put the owl in there to scare them off.

"Unfortunately it took the swallows about two days to work out it wasn't hostile."