Twit two woo over the garden fence

For more than a year Neil Simmons went out into his garden every evening and mimicked the calls of the owls but they never replied. Until one evening last year they began to hoot back at him.

Mr Simmons, 41, was delighted and logged each occasion when his imitations met with a hooted response. But unbeknown to him, Fred Cornes, 58, his neighbour in the village of Stokeinteignhead, Devon, was also hooting at the owls and was equally delighted to be receiving a response. The exchange continued for almost a year before they realised what was happening.