A FEATHERED friend rescued by an elderly couple returned to say “thank you”.

The extraordinary encounter occurred when Mr Neville Ball, aged 81, and his wife, Jean, 79, tended a goldfinch which had flown into their back window.

“It lay on the ground, concussed, and my wife and I decided to keep an eye on it - in case a cat found it - until it came around and was able to fly off,” said Mr Ball.

After 20 minutes the bird was sufficiently recovered to fly off from the couple’s Peveril Close home in Whitefield.

“We thought that was it. We had protected the bird, and our job was done,” said Mr Ball.

But, suddenly, he felt something brush the side of his head and the bird perched on his shoulder.

“It was the most remarkable thing,” said Mr Ball. “We think

it came back to thank us for looking after it.”

The couple are keen birdwatchers and have been members of the RSPB for more than 30 years.

They were among the 450,000 people who took part in the RSPB’s 39th Big Garden Birdwatch survey earlier this year.

Appropriately enough, the survey revealed an increase in the number of goldfinches visiting gardens across Greater Manchester.

Recorded sightings of the brightly coloured, sociable finch rose by 7% on 2017 figures for Greater Manchester and its bright red face was seen in a third of gardens in the county.

“It doesn’t surprise us,” said Mr Ball. “We’ve noticed more goldfinch in the garden this past year.”