A CHILL wind proved to be a life-saver for a small owl trapped in a chimney.

Susannah Baber, 45, and husband Spencer from Cromhall hadn’t used their wood burner for some time but, such was the cold of the night, they decided to enjoy the heat of a roaring fire.

No sooner had they lit the fire when an odd scratching noise could be heard.

They quickly put the fire out and Spencer said he would investigate.

Susannah described what they found next day: “Spencer dismantled the flue and we saw little feet. We could see from underneath that we had found a trapped owl.

“He was wedged in so we tried for a while to pull down the poor little thing. We couldn’t believe it. He was so little and beautiful.

“His huge yellow eyes were blinking at us and he was a bit sooty.”

The owl had become trapped 15ft down the chimney, falling through a 45 degree bend in the flue.

Susannah explained: “The top of the flue is wide so he’d have got in easily. I think the more he panicked the further down he went.”

Once he was released they wrapped him in a towel and took him to South Gloucestershire’s Hawk and Owl Trust. The group implements a busy programme of habitat management, nest-box building, installation and monitoring.

They were met by trust chairman Paul Golledge, 53, who checked the unfortunate little bird for injury. Luckily it appeared to be in robust health which suggested it hadn’t been trapped for long.

After feeding the little bird overnight, Paul, with Susannah, Spencer and their children Harvey, 12, and Anna, 10, released the owl back into the wild on October 23.

She added: “He was a beautiful little thing. It was a lovely wintery afternoon, the sun was going down, and it was a really special event.

“He flew off straightaway, we were quite surprised. He obviously knew he was in his territory, back in his hunting ground. A little burnt at the edges but happy again.”