Pigeon family nesting beneath postal van in Nailsea rescued

A family of pigeons has been rescued from beneath a postal van after secretly accompanying daily deliveries for more than three weeks. Louise Thomas, a Royal Mail worker in Nailsea, north Somerset, said the birds had gone undetected until Saturday when the mother was spotted trying to climb underneath. Local rescue team Curious Critters was called to retrieve two babies, known as squabs, and an adult female. A spokesperson said all three birds were "in good health". "Given pigeons sit on their eggs for around 18 days, and the squabs are at least three weeks old, they have been under there a long time," they added. The birds have been transported to the charity's rehabilitation aviary in Backwell where they will be safely released together once ready. Two volunteers from Curious Critters, Sarah and Emma, said they had to lift the van with an A-frame to get underneath it before they found the birds peering out from behind the machinery. "The gap they had nestled into was extremely narrow and right at the back of the chassis," they said. The trio were carefully removed and put into a carrier to be transported to the aviary together where they have continued to be fed by the mother. "S