A touch of Harry Potter magic swooped down on the children at a half-term activity club at King Alfred's College, Winchester.

Porter, Phil Oldham, has been studying falconry for 20 years and he founded a team which gives demonstrations all over the country.

This time, though, he was on home ground, displaying 14 birds of prey to the delight of the youngsters on a large open area in the college grounds which is known as The Dytche.

Helped by his fellow porters, Phil placed two falcons, two hawks and three owls on perches on the lawn.

Phil showed "Titch", an eight-month-old Harris hawk and the youngest of his birds, and "Tally", a 10-year-old red-tailed hawk - the oldest of his birds.

Phil's tale of how Tally's claw once went straight through his bare hand as the hawk landed for food captivated the 18 children.

Tally was a real hit with the boys. Scott Leadbetter (7) said: "He is my favourite because he's a hunting bird."

Zoe Wildman (5) was chosen to hold Titch on her arm: "He felt quite light and was really sweet. I wasn't scared at all."

The children also loved "Little Phil", a saker falcon, who, according to Phil, would be able to fly from Winchester to Southampton in just five minutes. However, it was "Punk", a great-horned owl, who stole the show with his chirpy, gentle nature. The children were delighted when they were allowed to stroke him.

Phil flew the Harris hawks, Jake and Titch, high into the sky. The acrobatics of the birds catching meat in mid-flight was a real crowd pleaser.

However, all did not go quite to plan as Titch crashed head-first into one of the college's windows. "If he's got a headache then he might need some paracetamol," piped up a little voice - and everyone was relieved when Titch carried on flying, clearly none the worse for his accident.