Long tailed-tit flies free after Sheffield shop rescue

A stricken bird found in a shop was nursed to health and set free after the owner appealed for help via a tweet.

The long-tailed tit was unable to fly when it was discovered atop some dried flowers in Moonko, Sheffield.

Animal lover Sarah Deakin saw shop owner Deborah Moon's Twitter plea and took the winged visitor home.

After spending the night cuddled up to a hot water bottle the feathered patient was released back into the wild.

Mrs Deakin took the bird, nicknamed Moonie, inside the box where it had recovered to Devonshire Green, close to the shop on Division Street.

A recording of the release shows the bird fly up into a tree, where it is joined moments later by a flock of long-tailed tits.

Mrs Deakin said one even touched Moonie's beak before they all flew off together.

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Trainee forest school teacher Mrs Deakin, from Meresbook, said the bird weighed less than a £1 coin.

"They are like little round balls of fluff with a long tail. it was like picking up a piece of cotton wool," the 53-year-old said.

Mrs Deakin was advised by local wildlife rescue centre The Special Branch to put a hot water bottle in the box in case it wanted to keep warm.

"I had a sleepless night with it in the next room, but the next day I went to look in the box and was greeted by this chirping and flapping around," she said.

She said she was advised that the bird could be freed if it was able to fly, and so she set about doing so on Sunday.

Moonko, on Division Street, sells dried flowers and handmade gifts

"As soon as I opened the lid it flew out and hung upside down on the tree, it was chirping away," she said.

"We just turned round to go back to the car, and I could hear long-tailed tits on the other side of the road.

"Then sure enough, a flock of them flew over and into the tree where Moonie was. They were flitting around it and one went right next to it, they touched beaks, and after a couple of minutes they all flew off.

"It was one of those moments where I thought, did that really happen? Nature is pretty incredible really."

Long tailed tits tend to stay in flocks of about 20 birds, according to the RSPB

Shop owner Ms Moon added: "Moonie brought everyone so much joy and Sarah is an absolute angel coming back to rescue him. The release is very special."

According to the RSPB, the long-tailed tit has a tail which is bigger than its body, and weighs about 7-10g.

It likes to live in a flock of up to about 20 birds.