A STATELY home has been playing host to majestic invaders from distant lands this winter.

Artist Robert E Fuller has captured footage of a rare flock of hawfinches at Castle Howard, in North Yorkshire. They are usually found in central and southern Europe, north Africa and Asia at this time of year.

However, thanks to low seed crop yields, the elusive creatures have ventured further north, with an estimated influx of around 50,000 birds to the UK - the largest ever recorded.

It is believed that a stand of the hawfinch’s favourite hornbeam trees at the Yorkshire Arboretum has helped to attract them this far north.

Mr Fuller gained exclusive access to the arboretum near Malton which is run as a joint enterprise between Castle Howard Estates and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, while it was closed to the public during the winter.

He built a hide at the site and enticed the hawfinches - which sadly feature on the RSPB’s “red list” of most endangered bird species - to feed on a bespoke bird table laden with seeds and stones.

Mr Fuller said: “They also seem to be able to eat almost any seed or stone, even the poisonous stones inside yew berries.

“It would take just three yew stones to kill a human. Other bird species only ever ingest them and then eject them whole - yet hawfinches consume them like confectionary.”