WHEN Rosemary Handley-Howard had a satellite dish put up she expected to be able to tune into a few movies.She never dreamed she would be watching from her window a real life “Planet Earth” unfold on the brackets used to attach the dish to the wall above her front door.

By James Mortlock

WHEN Rosemary Handley-Howard had a satellite dish put up she expected to be able to tune into a few movies.

She never dreamed she would be watching from her window a real life “Planet Earth” unfold on the brackets used to attach the dish to the wall above her front door.

But thanks to a daredevil pigeon - which has constructed a precarious nest on the narrow strips of metal - the grandmother is finding herself an unlikely David Attenborough to her whole family as she updates them on the pigeon's progress.

Particularly enthralled by the goings on at the dish is Mrs Handley-Howard's five-year-old grandson Thomas Mason.

The keen birdwatcher has been enthralled since the pigeon first started to build her nest and then on Friday night his attention was rewarded when he spotted two white eggs nestling in the dangerously-placed twigs.

Mrs Handley-Howard believes the pigeon attempted to build a nest in the same spot at her home in Beaumont Close, Bury St Edmunds, last year but a strong gust of wind blew away her efforts and she went elsewhere.

“She's back this year,” said the grandmother, who is now desperately hoping the pigeon can cling onto her unusual perch long enough to hatch out the eggs and fledge her chicks.

“This time she won't budge - she seems to be clinging on but she's hanging on in there. I hope she's successful this year.

“I can see her from the stairs window and at first I think she was worried by me passing by and having a look. But I think she's getting used to us. Thomas has got his binoculars trained on her all the time he's here - he's only five years old but he's a very keen birdwatcher so this is great for him and he thinks it's tremendous.”