A family of blackbirds almost managed to hinder the progress of construction students by setting up home in a college dumper truck.
While undertaking a routine pre-start check of the dumper, the students from Duchy College Stoke Climsland found the blackbirds had made their nest in the engine bay.
On careful inspection the nest was found to contain one egg, which has since increased to four.
The level 2 Plant Operations students at Duchy College, Stoke Climsland are taught to be environmentally and wildlife friendly as part of their course, so they knew not to disturb the nest and reported their find to their instructor.
After consulting Natural England they were advised that they would not be able to remove the nest or move the dumper for 30 days, or until the chicks had fledged and left it.
Plant Instructor, Chris Neve, said it was “certainly a first for me”.
“When I spoke to Natural England they said that they had heard of birds nesting in abandoned vehicles, but not one that was used every day,” he continued.
This was going to cause a massive problem for the College as the students had their Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) tests coming up that week.
“Luckily, our good friends at Gap Group heard about our problem and have kindly lent us a dumper so that the student’s test could still take place.”
GAP Group Ltd General Manager, Stephen Davies, said he was “only too happy to help the College out”.
“We have a good business partnership with them and when I heard of their predicament I spoke to our buying department and managed to arrange for a brand new six tonne dumper to be on site very quickly,” he explained.
“This enabled the College to continue with their training with no down time and meant the students were able to take their tests.”
Plant Operations Team Lead, Glen Miller, added his gratitude to Stephen and all the team at Gap Group.
“They really pulled out all the stops to get a dumper to us so the students could take their tests without any delays,” he added.
For more information on the range of Construction Plant courses available across The Cornwall College Group visit www.duchy.ac.uk or call 0330 123 2523.
