Waxwings make flying visit to Lytchett Matravers (From Bournemouth Echo)

Waxwings make flying visit to Lytchett Matravers

2:00pm Wednesday 9th January 2013 in News By Arron Hendy

A FLOCK of waxwing birds not often seen in Dorset have been spotted in Lytchett Matravers.

The crested migratory birds attract the attention of bird watchers as they are not common in the UK.

Village resident Rowan Watts spotted the exotic looking visitors outside his house in hawthorn bushes and ash trees close to the corner of Wareham Road and Burbidge Close.

He said: “The flock of 25 waxwing birds have been directly opposite our house.

“I knew what they were as, although I’m not a twitcher, I am a countryman.

“I’ve never seen them in my life before so I just checked it was them in my bird book.”

Rowan recognized the crest on their heads and that they are approximately the size of a starling.

“I know it’s exciting for Dorset and people want to see them as they are not normally here,” he added.

The waxwing call can sound like a bell jingling though it is not expected to be heard in the UK.

Luke Phillips, RSPB information officer, inset, said the “amazing” birds often visit rowan trees.

He said: “They arrive in the north and east of Britain and move south and west as berries run out. Waxwings don’t arrive in the UK every winter, it depends on food availability in Scandinavia and if they have had a good breeding the season the previous summer.”

Luke said one of the good things about the waxwings is they often do not fly away when approached.

“This winter several thousand have arrived which bird watchers will call a waxwing winter.”