THERE’S an old saying ‘One in the hand is worth two in the bush’.

Well local businessman Tom McCaffrey admits he’s no David Atenborough but this week he was amazed at the wisdom of nature protecting its young.

In the grounds of his house on the outskirts of Enniskillen Tom came across a nest of housemartins inside an ornamental ‘cowstail’ waterpump.

It was his tomcat ‘Lucky’ who led him to the find.

“The cat had found the nest and even though the waterpump is only four feet tall he couldn’t get at the chicks,” explained Tom.

“The only way into the birds nest is through the narrow spout which is only a few inches wide. I saw the cat look up towards the spout and grind its teeth and knew there was something in there. And when I lifted the lid I found the nest with five eggs in the centre of it.”

Tom showed the ‘find’ to his delighted grandchildren and the next time they went to investigate all five had hatched.

“We purposely stayed away and allowed things to develop naturally,” explained Tom. “We don’t want to disturb until the  young birds had flown the nest.”

 

 

The Enniskillen man says the birds are safe there. 

“It’s a heavy metal top, so it is difficult to get in to. These water pumps were given the name ‘cowstail’ because of the shape of the handle and this one was in service at the old RIC Barracks at Macken.

“We’ve been very fortunate to see something like this so close to home and we’re keeping a tight eye on them to ensure they are kept safe,” said Tom.

As for pet cat ‘Lucky’ he has been warned to stay well away from the tiny brood.