BRAKES, check, engine, check, birds nest...check!

You would not expect to pick up a birds’ nest on that annual auto service, but that’s what greeted a mechanic when he lifted the bonnet of Hampshire farmer Pete Milani’s tractor.

The Awbridge farmer has had to sideline the vehicle due to the inconvenient nesting of a family of pied wagtails.

It means Pete’s farming work, including hedge cutting have been put on hold until the five baby wagtail chicks fly their nest. Pete, who lives at Shaffles Cottage with partner Sally Willmore, said it was worth the delay to see wildlife in action.

“There’s so many places a bird can nest on a farm,” said Pete, 75.

“To go and make the nest in a tractor is a bit upmarket really.

The young birds have already made their first journey too, travelling across the farm yard as Pete was oblivious to the fact they were sat at the front end of his tractor, just a foot from the engine.

It seems Pete’s machinery is proving a favoured nesting place of birds as last year a family of wrens took up home in another of his tractors.

Pete added: “A lot of wildlife has been lost over recent years so it’s nice to see even if it’s through the grate of my tractor bonnet.”