Guest blog by Jenny Shelton, Assistant Media Officer
You don’t need to be Newt Scamander or attend a Care of Magical Creatures class at Hogwarts to come face to face with fantastic beasts and birds.
Our towns, cities and countryside are full of fascinating, mysterious creatures – from spellbinding eagles to tiny but mighty stag beetles. They may not be strictly magical, but they certainly hold a certain magical charm for all who encounter them. As the new JK Rowling movie Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them hits cinemas everywhere, here are some of the UK’s most fantastic beasts, birds and invertebrates – and where to find them.
Brown long-eared bat These fantastical-looking creatures can be seen flitting between trees at dusk or fluttering around streetlamps, using echolocation to locate moths and midges. With their long, papery ears and big eyes, there’s something of the House Elf about the brown long-eared bat... They often roost in old buildings or holes in trees, and hibernate during the winter and emerging in April. Where to find them: Large gardens, parks, woodland, countryside (especially near hedgerows).
White-tailed eagle While hippogriffs are strictly confined to the magical world, we Muggles may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of these truly magnificent creatures. White-tailed eagles are the UK’s largest bird of prey, with a wingspan often exceeding 8ft and eyeballs twice the size of a humans’. They completely disappeared from Britain in 1918, due partly to illegal killing. Then, in the 1970s, they were re-introduced to a secret location by RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Their Gaelic name means ‘eagle of the sun’s eye’. Where to find them: The west-coast of Scotland, including RSPB Glenborrodale.
Bittern Who needs an invisibility cloak when you can blend in perfectly with your surroundings? Bitterns – a bulky kind of heron – use their brown and golden feathers to help them ‘disappear’ amongst the tall grasses in which they live. They even adopt an upright stance, beaks pointing skyward, to look more reed-like when a predator is near. Weirder still is their call – a deep booming sound which can be heard in spring. Where to find them: Reedbeds and wetland, especially RSPB reserves Strumpshaw Fen, Lakenheath Fen and Ham Wall.
Spoonbill Gangly, with perhaps the most fantastic beaks of all the birds, spoonbills look like they’re the product of a spell gone wrong in Transfiguration class. These tall, snow-white birds sweep their specialised beaks back and forth through shallow water to snap up tiny fish and crustaceans. Their lightning-fast reflexes are thought to be amongst the fastest in the animal kingdom. Spoonbill only come to the UK for the winter: the rest of the year, most UK spoonies live in the Netherlands. Where to find them: RSPB reserves Arne in Dorset and Titchwell, Norfolk.
Stag beetle Reaching up to 7cm long, these armoured beasts are the UK’s largest beetle. Just like stags, the males use their strong antler-like jaws to battle foes and win the right to mate. Look out for them on balmy summer evenings when the males take flight to find a female – they look like strange, dark fairies. An old-English name for them is ‘billywitch’, and they were once thought to summon thunderstorms. Where to find them: Parks, gardens and woodland in southern England, including London, May-August.
Black grouse The impressive and mysterious black grouse could easily belong in Newt Scamander’s book of fantastic beasts. As early as January, strange bubbling, sneezing sounds can be heard before dawn as these large, chicken-like birds gather high on the moors to find a mate. The males, which are mostly black with bright red ‘eyebrows’, perform a bewitching dance for the females by fanning out their tails and springing into the air. Where to find them: Scottish Highlands, some locations in Wales and northern England. RSPB Corrimony organise lekking safaris in spring.
Tawny owl Owls play an important part in JK Rowling’s magical world, and they’re pretty magical in real life, too. Tawny owls are our commonest species of owl, found everywhere in the UK except Northern Ireland. They fly on silent wings and are the subjects of many a myth and legend, thanks to their haunting, screaming cry of ‘keee-wick!’ and famous drawn-out hoot, which was thought to be an omen of death. Listen for them two hours after sunset in autumn and winter. If you hear one, try hooting back – you might even get a response. Where to find them: Parks, gardens, woodland.
Basking shark Despite its gigantic gape, the basking shark is actually one of the safest sharks you could encounter. They feed passively on zooplankton, small fish and invertebrates – humans definitely aren’t on the menu. The second-largest shark in the world, baskers visit UK waters in spring. Nobody knew where they went in winter until recently, when scientists traced them living deep beneath the ocean around Florida and the Caribbean. Basking sharks can live up to 50 years, and their carcasses have been mistaken for sea monsters by sailors. Where to find them: Off the coast of Cornwall, the Hebrides and Isle of Man between May and October.
Waxwing Each winter, flocks of exotic birds from the forests of north east Europe visit the UK in search of berries. These are waxwings – chunky, punky birds with smoky pink feathers, a black bandit-like mask across their eyes and a flashy crest. Their call is a magical tinkling sound, a little like sleigh bells. They move about in large groups and can often be seen in supermarket car parks, where they’re likely to find a plentiful supply of rowan berries. Larger numbers than usual – flocks of up to 200 in Scotland – have been recorded this year, leading birders to name this a ‘waxwing winter’. Where to find them: Mostly Scotland and the east coast of England.
Grey seal The mournful song of the grey seal – yep, they can sing – could easily be mistaken for a mystical mermaid. Seals are descended from land animals which later returned to the sea: mammals, yet perfectly streamlined for a life underwater. In November, they haul themselves ashore to pup – you can see them on beaches along the east coast of England and Scotland. Pups are born white, which may not seem like great camouflage against predators, but is a throwback from the Ice Age when they were born in snow. Males live up to 30 years in the wild; females up to 40. Where to find them: East coast of England, Scotland, Cornwall and Pembrokeshire.
The RSPB is committed to securing the future for all our fantastic beasts. For more information on visiting our reserves, see: https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/